A complaint filed earlier this week has already generated some press, which we hope will help in restoring our client's good name and reputation in his Walker County home.
Adam Hadder, a former Walker County deputy sheriff has sued the county and Sheriff John Mark Tirey for firing him from the force after he reported corruption in the unit. Paul Kilgore, the former Chief Deputy, committed suicide after federal law enforcement agents commenced an investigation into his alleged misappropriation of funds from the county narcotics squad. The entire sordid story is contained in the complaint filed Monday in the Northern District of Alabama, Jasper Division. The case is styled Hadder v. Walker County, Alabama, et al, CV 14-00586. The link below provides a good summary of the allegations. http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/04/02/66688.htm Yesterday, after months of preparation and days of trial, Gary and our good
friend Jim Woolley received affirmation that the jury system still works. Our client, Heath Moss, is an Alabama State Trooper who, tragically, was involved in an accident in which two people died. Although the State Troopers did not discipline him – because the wreck was not his fault – the District Attorney of Limestone County prosecuted Heath for two counts of criminally negligent homicide. During the intervening months Trooper Moss has received death threats, and has not been allowed to perform the normal functions of his position. His life and the lives of his family have been forever changed. However, at 10:45 a.m. yesterday a jury of Limestone County citizens returned a verdict of not guilty. The men and women of the jury listened to days of testimony about the accident and determined that Heath was not at fault. I suppose I am allowed to brag on my law partner and tell you that Gary was an accident reconstruction expert during the ten years he served as an Alabama State Trooper. His intimate knowledge of accident reconstruction played a crucial role in the trial. During his cross examinations of the Troopers who investigated the wreck he was able to point out all of their mis-steps and mistakes. Of course, Jim Woolley should not be overlooked, even though I’m biased. His arguments were right on the money and persuasive as only the truth told by a good lawyer can be. We also would like to thank Eddie Alley, Esq., who served as local counsel in Athens, and Mr. David Bradley, who is completing his last year of law school and who, unlike your author, was able to attend trial and was of great help. Congratulations, Gentlemen. Job Well Done. http://whnt.com/2013/11/20/limestone-county-jury-deliberating-fate-of-state-trooper/ http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/11/alabama_state_trooper_found_no.html Looks like I might have spoken too soon the other day. Kent Faulk with the Birmingham News just posted an excellent article on Jason's case on al.com.
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/12/aldot_worker_claims_co-workers.html#incart_river Well, it looks like the story is picking up some speed. Here are a few links that have posted Jason's story.
1.) http://cathyharris-workplace.blogspot.com/ 2.) http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/12/12/53047.htm 3.) http://par4thecourse.newsvine.com/_news/2012/12/12/15864454-people-can-be-so-cruel 4.) http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/morning_call/2012/12/lawsuit-alleges-aldot-employees.html 5.)https://www.facebook.com/journalists 6.) https://www.facebook.com/StopDiscriminationagainstSpecialNeeds?filter=1 7.) http://www.wopular.com/lawsuit-alleges-aldot-employees-sodomized-developmentally-disabled-co-worker 8.) http://uswebdaily.com/news2/alabama-department-of-transportation-worker-claims-coworkers-tied-him-to-pole-and-sodomized-him-with-soda-bottle 9.) http://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuits/amer-with-disabilities-employment/alabama-northern-district-court/131759/a-jason-moody-v-alabama-department-of-transportation-the-bobby-thomas-chad-standridge-johnny-horn-randy-muvelhill-donald-warren-matthias-jones-demetrius-deavers-darrell-northcutt-lonnie-white-chris-jennings-gary-smith-john-teal-and-johnny-l/summary/ 10.) http://www.allvoices.com/news/13647245-alabama-department-of-transportation-worker-claims-coworkers-tied-him-to-pole-and-sodomized-him-with-soda-bottle 11.) http://www.newshour24.com/2012/12/20/71775-Lawsuit-alleges-ALDOT-employees-sodomized-developmentally-disabled-co-worker.htm 12.) http://caa-al.org/category/shared-tuscaloosa/ 13.) https://www.facebook.com/IJNet 14.) http://www.thebirminghamhomeinspector.com/aggregator/sources/10 15.) https://www.facebook.com/jhrnews 16.) http://www.entirealabama.com/alabama-p5?language=en 17.) http://www.americantowns.com/al/jefferson-county/news 18.) https://www.facebook.com/journalists?filter=2 19.) http://www.blountalabama.com/ 20.) http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/index_5.html 21.) http://blog.al.com/spotnews/shared_-_tuscaloosa/index.html 22.) http://www.triplerbi.com/models/JasonBates.php 23.) http://in-montgomery.com/?utm_source=Montgomery+List&utm_campaign=172253b40e-&utm_medium=email&cts=inMontgomery_911_Hands_on_River_Region9_1_2011&paged=5 24.) http://www.headlinenewsonline.com/headlinenews/news/better-homes-and-gardens-windowpane-36bottle-wine-cabinet-espresso-finish 25.) http://www.oscarseek.com/item/Mountain-Dew-Mouth-Pictures 26.) http://www.onenewspage.com/local/pvt/Mobile.htm 27.) http://news.yahoo.com/local/birmingham-news-15848149-12773409.html 28.) http://alabamaoasis.com/tag/madison-county/ Bates, Hetzel, PC just filed suit against the Alabama Department of Transportation and several individual defendants for the worst case of employment discrimination and harassment I have ever seen. Unlike some of our other cases, this one has not gotten any media attention. (For the life of me I cannot understand why). So I am attaching the filed Complaint to this blog in the hopes that people out there will be as outraged as Gary and I are.
To read this complaint in full CLICK HERE Posted: wnRenderDate('Thursday, December 13, 2012 10:36 AM EST', '', true); Dec 13, 2012 9:36 AM CST Updated: wnRenderDate('Thursday, December 13, 2012 10:53 AM EST', '', true); Dec 13, 2012 9:53 AM CST By Jeff Wyatt - email if (PLATFORM.EventMan) PLATFORM.EventMan.triggerEvent('WNStoryRelatedBoxdone'); There has been a shooting inside the Federal Courthouse building in Birmingham. According to a source inside the courthouse, (update: Confirmed by FBI) a man walked into the Chief Clerk's office mumbling about a will. He then put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
He was still alive when he was taken to a hospital. We have a crew on the scene and will have more information as it becomes available. ![]() BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A Mississippi company that provides healthcare for prisoners in jails says in a lawsuit that Jefferson County and Sheriff Mike Hale breached a $4 million a year contract with them when another company was hired last year to provide the services. Health Assurance LLC filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Birmingham last week. The lawsuit names as defendants Jefferson County, Sheriff Mike Hale, and Advanced Correctional Healthcare Inc., the new company brought in to provide prisoner healthcare at the jail. Health Assurance states in its lawsuit that it contracted with Hale on Feb. 7, 2007 to provide medical services to county jail inmates. The company's annual base compensation was $4 million, divided in monthly payments. The company states in the lawsuit that it employed doctors, nurses, and records technicians for the jail. On Oct. 1, 2011, without notice, Illinois-based Advanced Correctional Healthcare Inc. was brought in to provide the services, the lawsuit states. Employees not kept by the new company were fired effective Nov. 30, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit claims breach of contract on the part of Jefferson County and Hale and "tortious interference with contract" by Advanced Correctional Healthcare Inc. The lawsuit claims Advanced poached one employee and was privy to its trade secrets that were used to under bid them for the services. Jefferson County filed for bankruptcy last year, citing $4.23 billion in debt. Lawsuits are automatically stayed _ or put on hold _ against those who file bankruptcy. "The County's financial crisis is no big secret. We negotiated a new contract for inmate health care at a much lower cost than what Health Assurance was providing. Health Assurance had every opportunity to bid on a lower contract," Jefferson County Sheriff Chief Deputy Randy Christian stated in an email this morning. "They did a fine job while here we just couldn't afford them anymore unless we laid off more deputy sheriff's that protect the citizens of Jefferson County," Christian wrote. "Basically we are getting quality care at a much lower cost that saved the jobs of several deputy sheriffs that are desperately needed. We are very comfortable defending our position on that." A lawyer for Advanced Correctional Healthcare also responded to the lawsuit. "Advanced Correctional Healthcare has not received or been served with any such lawsuit,"Jessica K. Young, corporate attorney with the company, stated in an email response to an inquiry by The Birmingham News. "The company is pleased to have the opportunity to deliver a high standard of healthcare for Jefferson County inmates while working with Jefferson County to address the need to provide quality healthcare within its budget," Young wrote. "Advanced Correctional Healthcare did not tortiously interfere with any contract and intends to aggressively defend the case if it is served with process." Updated at 12:13 p.m. Oct. 24 to include response from Advanced Correctional Healthcare A recently filed lawsuit on behalf of one of our clients has made something of a splash in the local news. We even made the front page on September 22. Here is a link to the first article. The daughter of a woman who died in the Shelby County Jail more than a year
ago is suing the county, the sheriff, the jail's health care provider, the city of Harpersville and the probation services company in connection with the death. Shelby County resident Brittne A. Bell is suing on behalf of her mother Rebecca Lynn Allred, 45, who died May 18, 2011 due to liver failure, according to the lawsuit. "Had Ms. Allred been given even rudimentary medical treatment when she presented to the jail medical center, her condition would not have progressed to fatality," the suit, filed by Birmingham attorney Mary-Ellen Bates, contends. "Sadly, however, jail personnel repeatedly and callously denied her the right to medical treatment of any sort, refusing to even see her and attempt a diagnosis." The suit was filed Monday and amended Friday to include Judicial Correction Services, the town of Harpersville and the town's mayor. The attorney for Shelby County said they are looking into the lawsuit's allegations but "our preliminary investigation indicates that it has no merit." "We will continue to investigate it, but at this point the indication is that it has no basis," said Frank "Butch" Ellis. Judicial Correction Services is expected to respond later today, according to a spokesman. The health care company, Prison Healthcare LLC, a subsidiary of Baptist Health Systems, and other named defendants, did not immediately respond to requests for a response. JCS, which contracts with about 100 municipalities in Alabama, is the target of a lawsuit that led to a judge this summer charging the court system of Harpersville with operating a "debtors prison" where people were jailed for not paying fines and fees charged by the system. Allred was jailed in Shelby County for not paying fines associated with a car tag violation out of Harpersville, the suit says. "Ms. Allred was indigent at the time of her arrest and therefore unable to secure bail money," the suit states. "The 'bail' required for her release was the amount of the original fine and additional fees added by JCS," the probation company. Read more about it here. RELATED Private probation oufits raise eyebrows over for-profit services http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/09/daughter_of_woman_who_died_in.html ![]() BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Targets of a lawsuit blaming them in the death of a woman in the Shelby County Jail have fired back at the allegations. Shelby County attorney Frank "Butch" Ellis said a preliminary investigation found the suit has "no merit." And a private probation company said it has nothing to do with the death of Rebecca Lynn Allred who died May 18, 2011 of liver failure. Allred's daughter Shelby County resident Brittne A. Bell is suing the county, the sheriff, the health care provider, a private probation company and the town of Harpersville on behalf of her mother who died after five days in jail, according to the lawsuit. "Had Ms. Allred been given even rudimentary medical treatment when she presented to the jail medical center, her condition would not have progressed to fatality," the suit contends. "Sadly, however, jail personnel repeatedly and callously denied her the right to medical treatment of any sort, refusing to even see her and attempt a diagnosis." The suit was filed Monday and amended Friday to include the probation services company Judicial Correction Services, the town of Harpersville and the city's mayor. "It is obvious that the plaintiff's lawyers filing this amended complaint decided to try and take advantage of recent publicity concerning JCS and added JCS as an afterthought," said Kevin Egan, JCS' chief marketing officer. "We will continue to investigate it, but at this point the indication is that it has no basis," said Ellis, the attorney for the county. The health care company, Prison Healthcare LLC, is a subsidiary of Baptist Health Systems. Ross Mitchell, vice president of external and governmental affairs, said they do not comment on pending litigation. JCS, which contracts with about 100 municipalities in Alabama, is the target of a lawsuit that led to a judge this summer charging the court system of Harpersville with operating a "debtors prison" where people were jailed for not paying fines and fees charged by the system. Allred was jailed in Shelby County for not paying fines associated with a car tag violation out of Harpersville, the suit says. "Ms. Allred was indigent at the time of her arrest and therefore unable to secure bail money," the suit states. "The 'bail' required for her release was the amount of the original fine and additional fees added by JCS," the probation company. "JCS had no part whatsoever in Ms. Bell's death," according to Egan's prepared statement. "Further, JCS only provided supervision services to Harpersville, did not arrest people for Harpersville, and played no part at all in Ms. Bell's incarceration. Those decisions, including the amount set for bail, were made solely by the Harpersville court. JCS had no part in Ms. Bell's care at the Shelby County Jail." The lawsuit states that fellow inmates "used their limited telephone privileges" to contact Allred's son, Dustin Allred, to tell him his mother was ill. Dustin Allred left five messages for medical staff on the day his mother died, and during one of the calls a medical staffer told him there was nothing wrong with his mother, the lawsuit alleges. On May 17, 2011, she was found unresponsive in her cell and was taken to Shelby Baptist Medical Center where she died the following day, according to the suit. The cause of death was liver failure due to acute massive hepatocellular necrosis and acute bronchopneumonia, according to the suit. RELATED Private probation outfits raise eyebrows over for-profit operations |
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