Former Tarrant County deputies file lawsuits alleging misconduct and discrimination
TARRANT COUNTY – A group of former deputies with the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office are accusing the department of misconduct, wrongful termination and discrimination.
Phil Hill and Brandon Walker, who served as deputies for years, claim they were wrongfully fired after coming forward with allegations against members of the sheriff's office. The men have now filed whistleblower lawsuits against the department.
"The negligence has just been ongoing for so many years," Hill said. "When I came forward, everything really went downhill quick. I became kind of public enemy number one."
In Hill's whistleblower suit, he says his supervisors "gave bond agents inappropriate priority treatment and assistance to serve particular warrants."
"I witnessed them threaten family members with arrest if they didn't give out information on where the wanted person was," Hill told CBS News Texas in an exclusive interview.
In Walker's whistleblower suit, he claims he witnessed his colleague using illegal drugs while on duty in the narcotics unit, but says the claim was never investigated. "My lawsuit is about racial discrimination and retaliation. But in that process, I reported that some unlawful activities were being committed by my supervisors. Unfortunately, those supervisors were friends with Internal Affairs and a cover-up began," Walker alleges.
In a statement to CBS News Texas, the sheriff's office said:
"We believe this is a politically motivated attack against Sheriff Waybourn and the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office. If you look at those who organized today's press conference, they all have an agenda. This is nothing more than political grandstanding by those with an axe to grind. The Sheriff's political opponent was invited and all three former TCSO employees have pending litigation. It would be inappropriate to speak about those cases until they have worked their way through the courts. We have confidence in the DA's office to move these cases forward and reach the appropriate outcome.
"Keep in mind, the dismissal of a law enforcement employee doesn't happen with a wave of the hand by the Sheriff. There is a robust system in place to investigate employee disciplinary issues that includes Internal Affairs and Civil Service reviews. An employee is terminated only after those steps have been taken and due process indicates termination is appropriate."
"I had to fight the sheriff's office to show my innocence. And I was reinstated after over a year," said Nyla Lamb, another former sheriff's deputy. Lamb has filed a separate discrimination case against the office.
"Sadly, so many jailers and deputies are in situations where they are faced with the choice of coming forward or having to feed their families. That puts them in a bad situation because they understand if they come forward, their entire career could be ended," said attorney Daryl Washington, who represents the family of Anthony Johnson, an inmate who died inside the Tarrant County Jail earlier this year.
Hill believes other deputies have more allegations and urges them to come forward. "I got into law enforcement to do the right thing and I'm not sorry for standing up. I think that anybody else that takes a stand against these kinds of things, they're not going to be sorry."