Former matron is suing county

A former Jay County employee is suing the county for allegedly discriminating against her and denying her pay.

Kristin Coleman filed a civil tort case in Jay Superior Court against the Jay County Sheriff, Jay County Commissioners and Jay County Auditor on Tuesday. She seeks more than $19,700 in wages and attorney fees from the county.

According to a formal complaint filed with the case, Coleman’s lawyer alleges “the Sheriff, the Commissioners, and the Auditor intentionally, knowingly, willfully, and wantonly discriminated against her on the basis of her disability/perceived disability/record of impairment, denied (Coleman) wages she had earned, and retaliated against her for utilizing time off work pursuant to the (Family and Medical Leave Act), causing (her) to suffer the loss of her job and job-related benefits, including income and health insurance, and subjected her to emotional distress and other damages and injuries.”

Coleman worked for the county for more than a decade, having served as jail matron at Jay County Sheriff’s Office for five years, court documents say.

Employees were informed in November 2022 they would be paid down to 40 hours of compensatory time, the document says, with Coleman’s accrued time at about 200 hours. Coleman said she was informed by sheriff’s office secretary Penny Thomas she would be paid for 100 hours of compensatory time on Dec. 16, 2022, with the remaining hours to be paid on Dec. 30, 2022.

Coleman learned in November 2022 that the new sheriff elect, Ray Newton, planned to appoint a new matron. Coleman was told she could stay at the jail as an officer or work in dispatch, the document says.

According to her complaint, Coleman was informed on Dec. 16, 2022, “she was not eligible to be paid for her earned comp time or overtime, citing policy, even though she had been accruing comp time, had previously been able to cash in comp time, and had also been paid overtime as recently as November 2022.”

She submitted Family and Medical Leave Act paperwork to Thomas on Dec. 21, 2022, for time off related to her cancer diagnosis. (She said her oncologist advised her the next day she needed time off work because of her medical issues, and she delivered her doctor’s note to Thomas.)

The next day she attended a Jay County Personnel Committee meeting to discuss the issue with then-Sheriff Duane Ford, council president Jeanne Houchins, commissioners president Chad Aker, auditor Emily Franks, council member Ted Champ and county attorney Bill Hinkle. She said at the meeting “she believed she was being singled out due to her medical condition,” according to the complaint. 

At that time, Jay County Personnel Committee recommended the county pay a roughly $3,000 claim for Coleman’s compensatory time. However, the committee pointed out her position is not eligible to accrue such time. Coleman was one of several county employees, mainly elected officials and first deputies, who were not entitled to receive overtime compensation or compensatory time off, according to the county’s personnel policy handbook at that time.

Coleman pointed out at the meeting that others had received compensatory time — in the complaint, she names former jail commander Darrin Sanderson — despite being ineligible for it.

Houchins chided Ford at the meeting for allowing compensatory time to be accrued. Ford argued Coleman’s position can’t be completed at 40 hours a week. He said he wasn’t aware of the policy, which dated back to January 2019, and that he had been following guidelines for compensatory pay he believed were in place previously. Other personnel committee members said Ford should have addressed the issue with county officials.

Pointing to the personnel policy handbook, Jay County Commissioners decided not to pay Coleman for her compensatory time at their meeting Dec. 27, 2022, with Newton supporting the denial, the complaint says.

Three days later, Coleman informed the sheriff’s office she would be returning to dispatch when she was released by her doctor to return to work.

Coleman received a certified letter from Newton on Jan. 21, 2023, indicating her employment had been terminated on Jan. 1 while on Family and Medical Leave Act leave. The letter states the matron job is a political appointive position of the sheriff and may be terminated by the sheriff at any time.

“This is to reconfirm my earlier conversation with you that effective January 1, 2023, your appointment as Matron was terminated; and you were no longer a Jay county employee,” Newton said in the letter. “You may apply for any open County positions following the procedures established by the County for filling vacant positions. You are advised to contact the Auditor’s Office to inquire about the application process.”

Coleman sent a tort claim notice to the sheriff, commissioners and auditor on March 6, 2023, and a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on April 12, 2023. The EEOC transferred the charge to the Indiana Civil Rights Commission. (The commission is still investigating the claims, according to documents filed in the case.)

A wage claim application approved by Indiana Department of Labor in March 2023 established Coleman’s claim at $19,754.88.

According to the formal complaint, Coleman demanded a jury trial.