Former Hazard deputy police chief claims retaliation after reporting excessive force
The former deputy police chief in Hazard claims she was demoted and eventually fired after reporting an incident of excessive force by police Chief Darren Williams.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court, Jessica Cornett accuses Williams and city manager Tony Eversole of wrongful termination and retaliation.
The lawsuit claims violations of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Police Bill of Rights, Family Medical Leave Act, the Kentucky Whistleblower Act and other state laws.
The police department referred a reporter to Eversole’s office for comment. Eversole said his office was not aware of the lawsuit, and could not comment.
The lawsuit dates back to April, when Cornett says Williams choked or used a neck restraint without justification on someone after Williams was contacted directly by the victim of a road rage incident. The lawsuit does not say if Williams had a connection to the victim, but the aftermath of the incident was recorded on a woman’s cell phone.
When Cornett asked Williams to complete a use of force report, Williams refused, told Cornett to mind her business and said next time he would “choke (the man) harder,” according to the lawsuit.
The incident was the second time Williams has been accused of choking someone while working at the police department, the lawsuit said.
Cornett wrote a memo to Eversole, according to the lawsuit, and two days later she was demoted from deputy chief to captain. She was served with a disciplinary form that cited “insubordination, failure to follow orders, cursing and abusing subordinates.”
Cornett filed a complaint and petition for legal guidance against Eversole and Williams in Perry Circuit Court on April 25, according to the lawsuit.
The next day, the lawsuit says, Williams pinned a copy of the complaint to a wall in department headquarters. The lawsuit alleges Williams and Eversole encouraged other officers to file complaints against Cornett. Her patrol car was taken from her home. She was reassigned to the night shift.
Over the next three months, six “baseless” reprimands were issued by Williams against Cornett, according to the lawsuit.
Cornett was terminated on August 27, via an email from Williams that read, “I haven’t heard from you at all since your last excuse which put you off thru the 9th of August. You no longer work here. And your KYOPS should have been revoked. I will make sure that is done today.”
When she went to retrieve her property from her office, Cornett discovered someone placed her belongings in trash bags outside of her office.
Cornett’s complaint remained pinned to the wall with a new message on it.
“It is always good to support your leader. If you undermine a leader, it not only hurts them, it also hurts the morale of the troops as well as you as a subordinate leader. You are setting an example; if the example you set is one of disrespect up the chain of command, you can expect much the same from the people you are leading.”
Cornett is seeking expenses, punitive damages and restoration of Cornett’s rank of deputy chief with her seniority rights at the Hazard Police Department.
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 10:21 AM.
