Arkansas Mayor Sued by Former City Employee

Bryant, Arkansas mayor Jill Dabbs has been sued by the city’s former human resources director, Shayne King. King has been silent for the past year regarding her firing from city hall but has decided to tell her side of the story now. Dabbs has called the majority of King’s claims false even though King says we should let the court decide if they are false or not.

Randy Coger, a resident of Bryant, has shown support for Dabbs.

“She’s morally correct, she’s got a ton of patience, she’s a humble lady,” Coger said. Coger also said that Dabbs has helped to cut some of the fat in city hall during her tenure.

“She can’t sneeze without them blowing it out of proportion,” Coger said.

King filed a lawsuit against Dabbs, who fired King in January of 2011, that asks for $333,000 in damages. The lawsuit was also filed against the city of Bryant.

“She has been very vocal on several occasions about why she did not reappoint me, and unfortunately those things do not match,” King said.

The lawsuit filed against Dabbs and the city claims wrongful discharge and claims that the discharge occurred after King had a discussion with Dabbs about her salary. The lawsuit also claims that King was terminated after King did not meet a deadline of three days to have a background check performed for the interim police chief. Dabbs wanted the interim police chief in place by the time she took office.

“I feel like I made an extra effort between the election date and the beginning of the year to provide as much information as I could,” King said.

King claims that the effort included working during vacation time to prepare items for Dabbs’ first day on the job. The lawsuit filed also claims that Dabbs made slanderous comments about King in the media.

“I feel like it hampered my ability to find work,” King said.

King has found a new job but still wonders why she lost her old one that she held for more than 12 years with Bryant.

“My evaluations were all above average for each year that I was there,” King said.

Supporters of the mayor feel that this lawsuit is simply another attack on the mayor.

“They are just playing games, just trying to make the mayor look bad,” Coger said.

Dabbs has told various media outlets in the Bryant area that the conversation between her and King about her salary never occurred. Dabbs also said that King met the deadline for the background check on the interim police chief so she does not understand where that accusation comes from in the lawsuit.

The only thing Dabbs has said about the firing of King is that King “wasn’t a good fit for her administration.”