LAFOLLETTE, Tenn. — Two fired officers filed a federal lawsuit against the City of LaFollette on Wednesday.
Those officers argue the City of LaFollette violated their due process rights, free speech rights and fired them in retaliation for their political beliefs.
The LaFollette City Council voted to fire Sgt. Marvin Miller and Lt. Brian Tiller on August 2, 2022. Their firings came after an investigation into the LaFollette Police Department by a Knoxville-based attorney, Celeste Herbert.
A complaint by Sgt. Charles Duff alleged Miller and Tiller created a toxic work environment within the LaFollette Police Department.
Herbert's two-and-a-half page report said Miller "bullied and harassed" other members of the LaFollette Police Department and Tiller "either agreed with Sgt. Miller's behavior or purposely ignored it."
The LaFollette City Council received the report a few hours before their meeting on August 2, and voted to fire the pair, according to the meeting minutes. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Wednesday, argued Tiller and Miller were fired for their support of a city council candidate who lost.
If Mike Evans won the 2022 City Council election, Brian Tiller would be made LaFollette's Chief of Police, the lawsuit argued. However, then-Captain Stephen Wallen thought LaFollette City Council incumbents Stephanie Solomon and Brian St. John would support him for Chief of Police, the lawsuit said.
At the meeting where the two officers were fired, the LaFollette City Council promoted Wallen to Chief of Police.
The lawsuit alleged the LaFollette Police Department, at the request of Wallen, was spying on Tiller.
"Certain employees in the police department were spying on him by tracking his location via the GPS device and by use of a surveillance drone, including while Tiller was off-the-clock," the lawsuit said.
The police department ordered the GPS tracking unit using funds from LaFollette's drug fund, a purchase order showed. The lawsuit claimed the spying violated Tiller's civil rights.
Both fired officers argue their firings didn't follow the City of LaFollette's own process for terminating an employee. They argue they weren't told they were under investigation, and neither fired officer received a hearing or a chance to present his case.
"If you want to terminate somebody, LaFollette has said, 'Here's our process,'" said Scott Miller, Marvin Miller's attorney. "Then you have a city administrator and a city council that says, 'Yeah, we're not going to follow that.' But that's not how it works."
In 2021, the LaFollette City Council fired Daniel Foster and Jimmy Jeffries. They made similar claims against the city. Jeffries received a $375,000 settlement from LaFollette, and Foster received $400,000.