The long dormant lawsuit filed against Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley by three deputies he fired after he took office gets rolling again this week as the parties enter court-ordered mediation.
Former Deputy Rick Hord, one of the three people fired, confirmed Tuesday that he will fly in from Virginia where his family now lives to participate in Thursday’s mediation.
“I’ve been advised to be at a mediation session,” he said. “I’ve made myself available.”
Marsha Weaver, general counsel for the Sheriff's Office, also confirmed the mediation hearing was set for Thursday. Weaver declined to comment further because of the confidentiality of the mediation process.
Mediation is a court-ordered process through which the two sides in a civil case attempt to negotiate a settlement.
Hord, Jon Bush and John Lee, all sergeants, were told Nov. 8, 2010, not to show up for a ceremony at which deputies took an oath of allegiance to the newly elected Ashley.
They were told the next day their services were no longer needed.
When an uproar arose, Ashley offered to hire the men back at a lower rank and less pay. In announcing the offer, though, Ashley was quoted as directing derogatory comments — comments he denies making — toward Bush, Lee and Hord.
They rejected the offer to return to the Sheriff's Office and attorney Erick Mead sued on their behalf in Okaloosa County Circuit Court in May 2011.
The lawsuit alleges that Hord, Bush and Lee were illegally terminated. It seeks damages and reinstatement at full pay and benefits.
It claims the firings were politically motivated — Hord had opposed Ashley for sheriff in 2010 — and alleges each fired deputy was assigned a task they got in trouble for doing too well.
In Hord’s case, the lawsuit states he found Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab reports that had been ignored while conducting an inventory of the Sheriff's Office’s evidence room.
Hord’s findings revealed “a systemic policy failure … which indicated likely ongoing gross mismanagement, malfeasance, or misfeasance,” the lawsuit states.
It claims Lee conducted an inspection of the county courthouse in Crestview and reported findings that “did not reflect well” on the Sheriff's Office as it sought state accreditation.
The complaint states that Bush was asked to compile information regarding firearms qualifications and discovered lapses serious enough to indicate systematic failure, “indicating ongoing gross mismanagement, malfeasance or misfeasance.”
The complaint also claims that Hord, Lee and Bush were fired without receiving a statutory review that they were entitled. It states Ashley tried to rectify his first firing by offering to rehire the deputies, but did not make the offer in good faith.
“Larry Ashley terminated the plaintiffs in violation of law, without complying with due process required by law and in derogation of the law and duties of his new office of Sheriff,” the complaint claims.
“This action was the product of personal animus toward plaintiffs as a result of their constitutionally and statutorily protected activities and not a consequence of any legitimate, good faith selection criteria,” it adds.
The lawsuit calls for Ashley to be found in violation of Florida law and the deputies to receive awards for damages “incurred by the violation.”
The lawsuit originally was scheduled for mediation in July 2011 before the Sheriff's Office legal team decided to move the case into federal court.
It was remanded back to Circuit Court in April 2012. Circuit Judge William Stone is scheduled to hear the case if it goes to trial.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.