The citizens of Demorest may end paying a heavy price for recent personnel changes and political squabbles within their city government.
An attorney for fired Demorest Police Chief Robin Krockum today put the city manager and council on notice that Krockum may file a federal wrongful termination and deprivation lawsuit against them.
“We are in the due diligence stage in contemplation of litigation,” attorney Tom Kirkbride tells Now Habersham.
Krockum hired the Peachtree City-based attorney this week after several failed attempts by the council to meet to discuss his firing and possible reinstatement.
Breaking her silence
Demorest City Manager Kim Simonds fired Krockum on April 16, one day after he declined to write-up a police officer for making negative comments on social media about the city’s new trash cans. Krockum said at the time that, while he did not agree with how the officer handled the situation, Officer George Cason was protected under free speech.
“This is the most egregious termination that I have ever been personally aware of,” says Kirkbride. “We’re quick to jump on police officers for violating somebody’s rights but now when a police officer steps up to stand up for one of his employee’s rights, he gets fired for it.”
After weeks of repeated requests for comment from Now Habersham, Simonds broke her silence today on Krockum’s firing.
“I should not and cannot comment on personnel issues,” she says in an email. “I can, however, say that Chief Krockum WAS NOT terminated for his refusal to discipline his officer. Our Mayor has meticulously cultivated a culture of organizational dysfunction that has rendered some city departments unmanageable. We are working hard to correct that and unfortunately in that process, hard decisions must be made. The bottom line is, it was time for a change.”
The two city councilmen who supported Krockum’s firing, Nathan Davis and John Hendrix, are also the two newest members of the council. Both assumed office in January. According to Demorest Mayor Rick Austin, neither has attended the municipal training required for newly elected officials.
“It is a sad day when the actions of a few untrained individuals potentially are going to cost the residents of our city so deeply, I have no further comment at this time,” Austin tells Now Habersham.
That lack of training was made evident when Councilman Davis, just hours after being notified he may be named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit, released a press release admitting he participated in unauthorized meetings and actions in concert with Simonds, Hendrix, and Hendrix’s wife, Kim.
“First, I want to admit my part in this situation and accept full responsibility for my actions,” Davis writes. “ I have unknowingly taken actions [that] were not valid as a member of the City Council. After discussing the full situation with legal counsel, I have determined that the best thing that I can do is to admit to the citizens of our City what has happened and to make adjustments in the manner that I conduct city business in the future.”
READ Demorest councilman confesses to unauthorized meetings, actions
At-will state
At the time he was fired, Krockum was earning an annual salary of $70,012. The only severance he received was untaken earned leave time he had accrued, according to his attorney.
After he was fired, it took Simonds five days to issue him a formal termination notice. When she did, it cited “performance issues” as the reason for his firing.
Georgia is an at-will state which means anyone may be fired at any time even for an unfair reason. “Unfair does not equal illegal,” Kirkbride concedes. However, he says Simonds is the cause of the action by “asking him [Krockum] to discipline an officer and deny an officer his First Amendment rights.”
By all accounts, the former chief was a stellar employee. He says he was never disciplined or written-up for any infractions during his four-and-a-half years on the job. Asked to confirm that, Simonds says Krockum’s personnel file is confidential and she cannot comment on it. However, she does say “there have been multiple issues over the last few years regarding the inability to manage that department. Those issues have been discussed AT LENGTH with Council members, former City Managers, and the Chief.”
Demorest Mayor Rick Austin disputes that. So does Sean Moore. Both have served on the council for several years and both give Krockum exceedingly high marks for his performance as police chief.
Additionally, Kirkbride says Krockum has been denied all due process. The city council which would review any appeal has not been able to even agree on holding a meeting, much less get together for a name-clearing hearing on an official that half of them wanted to be fired.
“I have lost all faith in the city councilmen and the city manager that continue to go on this course,” Kirkbride says. “It appears to me that this is a dysfunctional city government.”
The real losers
Calling Krockum a “dedicated” law officer who only wanted to “take that department higher,” Kirkbride says Krockum is still stunned by the situation.
“My client has been injured. His standing in the community has been injured. His reputation has been injured. There are a lot of people who support him and we’re grateful,” says Kirkbride, “but at this point, it’s probably too late to consider a remedy of him getting his job back. They’ve had that opportunity and they’ve not reached out to him to make amends and have offered no due process.”
If Krockum does decide to go through with the lawsuit, Kirkbride says “We will be looking at damages in excess of $1 million.”
He does not have a timeline for when a lawsuit might be filed, but the city taxpayers and its insurance company are not the only ones potentially on the hook. If the suit goes to court, the city manager, mayor, and council members may have to pay damages from their own pockets if the judge determines they exceeded the scope of their limited immunity as government officials.
“At the end of the day the sad part is no one is going to be made whole in this,” Kirkbride says. “You have a chief that has been injured in this. You have the city facing possible monetary loss.” And he adds, “The citizens of Demorest are the ones who lost in this whole thing. They lost a dedicated law enforcement executive who had nothing but the best interest of the city at heart.”
BREAKING NOW
BREAKING NOW: Demorest councilman confesses to unauthorized meetings, actions
This article has been updated to include additional information
