It looks like a case where a former employee of Coffee County government took the county to court over her losing her job, might soon have a financial settlement.
On May 27, 2010, Melinda Keeling was fired from the Coffee County codes department. At that time, Glenn Darden was the department director and David Pennington served as a county mayor.
According to County Attorney Bob Huskey, Keeling was laid off because there was not enough work to justify keeping her position.
After a trial and an appeal by the county, an opinion was issued by the Tennessee Court of Appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court in the case of Melinda Keeling v. Coffee County. That means county taxpayers could now on the hook for more than $1 million in damages and attorney fees.
Huskey says he recommended the county file an application with the Tennessee Supreme Court in an effort to reverse the decision.
Now after this very long process, a special meeting of the Coffee County Commission will be on Monday, November 26, 2018, for the specific purpose of addressing and approving a settlement of pending litigation between Melinda Keeling and Coffee County. The meeting will take place at 6:00 p.m. at the Commission Meeting Hall at the Coffee County Administrative Plaza, 1329 McArthur Street, Manchester.
Following the vote on the issue by the Commission, the meeting will close.
Following the closure of the first meeting, the County Clerk will immediately prepare the minutes of the meeting and upon the completion, a second Specially Called meeting of the Coffee County Commission will be called to order for the specific purpose of approving the minutes of the 6:00 p.m. meeting.
WMSR News will continue to update you on this story.