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Former DFCS worker files suit
By Blake Spurney Editor
A former Rabun County Department of Family and Children Services employee whose ouster two years ago led to an investigation and housecleaning at the local office has filed a lawsuit against her former co-workers.
Melinda "Mindy" McCoy is seeking unspecified damages against former director Linda K. Gragg and Nicole Allen. Her lawsuit also named Donna Terry, Andrea Phelps, Judith Mendoza and Creative Consulting Services of Northeast Georgia Inc.
Gragg hired Phelps and Mendoza, Allen's sister and mother respectively, to do clerical work, and Terry shared living arrangements with Allen. Creative Consulting performed drug screens for DFCS until January 2006.
Terry had taken out a reckless conduct warrant against McCoy in her capacity as a part-time Rabun County sheriff's deputy on July 20, 2005. McCoy had not removed children from a residence Terry deemed unsafe, though it turned out the mother and children were not staying at the residence at the time.
McCoy was fired a short time later, and the resulting fallout led to massive upheaval and allegations of conflict of interest about the drug screening process.
"I'm hoping that (the lawsuit) will finally be an end to all of this," McCoy said. "There were really no repercussions to any of them for what happened. I guess I was the fall person, though they didn't expect me to fall down screaming and yelling."
Her lawyer, Brian Rickman, filed the 31-page complaint last week in Rabun County Superior Court. He is alleging that the defendants engaged in racketeering activities to injure his client. Specifically, the offenses he outlined are forgery, perjury, computer forgery, theft by deception and tampering with evidence.
Rickman said he got most of his information from the 64-page report compiled by investigators with the Georgia Department of Human Resources, which oversees DFCS. He is seeking damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress inflicted by the defendants and "punitive damages based upon the intentional and outrageous conduct of the Defendants," according to the complaint.
A judgment under the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act allows for treble damages - three times the amount awarded by a jury or judge.
"I lost my house. I lost my transportation, my income, my retirement, medical benefits," McCoy said. "I've not been able to find a job all this time."
Rickman said he and his client previously hadn't filed a lawsuit because they felt litigation wouldn't be necessary. "To me the facts are so egregious, I naively thought somebody would want to pick up the phone and want to make it right," he said. "And that just hasn't happened."
Terry and Gragg were served notice of the lawsuit at their residences in Rabun County. They could not be reached for comment. Rickman said he believed Mendoza and her two daughters lived in Branson, Mo.
Mendoza sued DHR a year ago in Fulton County alleging breach of contract. The state canceled her company's contract to perform drug screening in Stephens, Towns, Union, Rabun, White and Lumpkin.
Her lawyer, Joseph A. Homans of Dawsonville, said the case was still pending. His response to the state's motion for summary judgment is due soon, and he hoped decisions on all pretrial motions would be rendered next month. The case would then proceed to trial.
"She's relocated, and they're doing business in Missouri," he said about Mendoza and her daughters.
McCoy was an 18-year employee when she was fired. She said Gragg never gave her a reason, and she was denied unemployment after Gragg lied during her hearing.
McCoy's complaint claims Allen forged four entries in a case file after McCoy was suspended in July 2005. The file was related to the client whose residence was involved in Terry's warrant application. Allen committed the forgery and subsequent computer forgery to provide justification for McCoy's firing and to cover for Terry's false testimony and wrongful actions, the lawsuit contends.
Creative Consulting was getting paid for each drug screen it performed. Allen investigated referrals and recommended people sign safety plans that required random drug testing. Terry made referrals, accompanied Allen on home visits and helped perform drug screens while in uniform.
Creative Consulting was paid more than $80,000 for the 742 screens it performed in Rabun between January 2005 and January 2006. Gragg violated DFCS policy by not putting the drug screening contract with Creative Consulting up for bids, even though it was for more than $5,000 worth of services.
In essence, McCoy alleges that the defendants wanted her out of the office because she was an "obstacle" to their performing more drug screens. Mendoza had an office at the DFCS building. Creative Consulting employees were present at the office to such an extent that it appeared they also were DFCS employees.
Before McCoy was fired, she e-mailed the state about the defendants' activities, the conflict of interest involving drug screening and what she perceived to be violation of DFCS policies.
Ironically, Gragg and Allen were among four DFCS employees fired amid the state's internal investigation. Gragg was later allowed to return for a period of months until she could take early retirement. Terry, formerly a Clayton police officer, later was terminated from her job.
Melinda "Mindy" McCoy is seeking unspecified damages against former director Linda K. Gragg and Nicole Allen. Her lawsuit also named Donna Terry, Andrea Phelps, Judith Mendoza and Creative Consulting Services of Northeast Georgia Inc.
Gragg hired Phelps and Mendoza, Allen's sister and mother respectively, to do clerical work, and Terry shared living arrangements with Allen. Creative Consulting performed drug screens for DFCS until January 2006.
Terry had taken out a reckless conduct warrant against McCoy in her capacity as a part-time Rabun County sheriff's deputy on July 20, 2005. McCoy had not removed children from a residence Terry deemed unsafe, though it turned out the mother and children were not staying at the residence at the time.
McCoy was fired a short time later, and the resulting fallout led to massive upheaval and allegations of conflict of interest about the drug screening process.
"I'm hoping that (the lawsuit) will finally be an end to all of this," McCoy said. "There were really no repercussions to any of them for what happened. I guess I was the fall person, though they didn't expect me to fall down screaming and yelling."
Her lawyer, Brian Rickman, filed the 31-page complaint last week in Rabun County Superior Court. He is alleging that the defendants engaged in racketeering activities to injure his client. Specifically, the offenses he outlined are forgery, perjury, computer forgery, theft by deception and tampering with evidence.
Rickman said he got most of his information from the 64-page report compiled by investigators with the Georgia Department of Human Resources, which oversees DFCS. He is seeking damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress inflicted by the defendants and "punitive damages based upon the intentional and outrageous conduct of the Defendants," according to the complaint.
A judgment under the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act allows for treble damages - three times the amount awarded by a jury or judge.
"I lost my house. I lost my transportation, my income, my retirement, medical benefits," McCoy said. "I've not been able to find a job all this time."
Rickman said he and his client previously hadn't filed a lawsuit because they felt litigation wouldn't be necessary. "To me the facts are so egregious, I naively thought somebody would want to pick up the phone and want to make it right," he said. "And that just hasn't happened."
Terry and Gragg were served notice of the lawsuit at their residences in Rabun County. They could not be reached for comment. Rickman said he believed Mendoza and her two daughters lived in Branson, Mo.
Mendoza sued DHR a year ago in Fulton County alleging breach of contract. The state canceled her company's contract to perform drug screening in Stephens, Towns, Union, Rabun, White and Lumpkin.
Her lawyer, Joseph A. Homans of Dawsonville, said the case was still pending. His response to the state's motion for summary judgment is due soon, and he hoped decisions on all pretrial motions would be rendered next month. The case would then proceed to trial.
"She's relocated, and they're doing business in Missouri," he said about Mendoza and her daughters.
McCoy was an 18-year employee when she was fired. She said Gragg never gave her a reason, and she was denied unemployment after Gragg lied during her hearing.
McCoy's complaint claims Allen forged four entries in a case file after McCoy was suspended in July 2005. The file was related to the client whose residence was involved in Terry's warrant application. Allen committed the forgery and subsequent computer forgery to provide justification for McCoy's firing and to cover for Terry's false testimony and wrongful actions, the lawsuit contends.
Creative Consulting was getting paid for each drug screen it performed. Allen investigated referrals and recommended people sign safety plans that required random drug testing. Terry made referrals, accompanied Allen on home visits and helped perform drug screens while in uniform.
Creative Consulting was paid more than $80,000 for the 742 screens it performed in Rabun between January 2005 and January 2006. Gragg violated DFCS policy by not putting the drug screening contract with Creative Consulting up for bids, even though it was for more than $5,000 worth of services.
In essence, McCoy alleges that the defendants wanted her out of the office because she was an "obstacle" to their performing more drug screens. Mendoza had an office at the DFCS building. Creative Consulting employees were present at the office to such an extent that it appeared they also were DFCS employees.
Before McCoy was fired, she e-mailed the state about the defendants' activities, the conflict of interest involving drug screening and what she perceived to be violation of DFCS policies.
Ironically, Gragg and Allen were among four DFCS employees fired amid the state's internal investigation. Gragg was later allowed to return for a period of months until she could take early retirement. Terry, formerly a Clayton police officer, later was terminated from her job.
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