The RCNs article was maybe not totally clear on the DAs opinion. I read the DA's opinion to say that it is not illegal for people to view porn in general. I take that general statement meaning in the privacy of one's own home where legal, etc. not necessary or specifically addressing the courthouse situation at hand. It's my thought the courthouse is a "public" place therefore the situation is greatly different making this sex in public. There is a policy at the courthouse that states government equipment must be used for official business, not personal. What was commited was a clear violation of that policy. The news reported that Teresa simply asked Melvin if he charged for the time. There had to be time cards as he was working past hours on overtime. A clear misuse of taxpayer funds. His co-workers had issues because they saw where his work was not getting done at all. Work that he was paid to perform. I believe that he was likely collecting county retirement and getting double paid as a contractor during this period of time. The good people of Roane County are paying for this gross situation in the form of high assessments and wasted resources. If Melvin was not doing his job as Chief Assessor then it throws a lot into question. It also seems that Teresa covered this and other situations up for political reasons. She stated in the article that she tried to keep problems within the office and away from the openness of the public trust. I would ask how the Grand Jury was handled? I believe the Grand Jury venue should have changed as we have had enough issues at the courthouse. The biggest issue - friends taking care of friends, family taking care of family.

From what I have learned this is just getting started and a lot more is going to come out. This is an opportunity for Roane County to end some of the good old boy practices that have held it back. I think we'll see much more come out. Let the chips fall where they may, deal with it, take a fresh breath in clear air, and move on.

I'm looking over some things I've just obtained and will have another post on this very soon.

The courthouse should immediately institute a policy against retribution.This should include each office having a written policy and training. The only way the courthouse can be cleaned up is for the employees to feel safe coming forward with problems. There should never be a fear of retribution. Yes, there is loyalty to the elected officials and respect for supervision, but ethical and compliant government business for the public good must be the standard. Teresa did exactly the opposite. She managed by fear. She had retribution for employees that brought problems to her. The business environment can be improved by a policy, training and allowing the employees to see that intimidation will not be tolerated. There has to be an ongoing "no fear of retribution" climate supported by the leadership.

I understand there were employees that actually walked in on Melvin during his comprising times, but they were afraid to report it due to fear of losing their jobs. We may never know what part the public environment element played into this - was it accidental or part of the thrill of being caught in public. No matter what, it appears others were likely impacted/violated by these sexual acts. If those employees come forward it could possibly be a case of sexual harassment. A liability the county doesn't need. Is there any sexual harassment training provided for employees and supervisors?

There can be other administrative controls in place to limit liability and support accountability. We all know Danny worked late in mapping for years. Constantly unsupervised staff doesn't create an optimal environment for accountability. Danny retired when Teresa left.

So many points of mismanagement and potential liability for the county. Now is the time to learn from these mistakes and start on the right path.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 officially made sexual harassment illegal in the workplace. The EEOC has the regulations and guidelines covering sexual harassment at work. Per "federal laws", victims of sexual harassment can sue for damages, per a 1991 amendment to Title VII of the Act. It seemed Teresa and others didn't believe the laws pertained to them under the wrong assumption that being an elected official was above the law. They are not above the law.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination.The legal definition of sexual harassment is “unwelcome verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is severe or pervasive and affects working conditions or creates a hostile work environment.” As these acts took place in public there were many potential liabilities including co-workers that did not welcome this behavior and, therefore, were victims due to these highy inappropriate acts.

These are serious situations. It's imparitive the courthouse gets control of these and creates an work environment that's free of retribution.

Potential Remedies and Damages:

Back Pay

This is the most common form of relief. It includes the value of wages, salary, and fringe benefits the claimant would have received during the period of discrimination.

Compensatory Damages

Awarded for emotional distress, pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Attorney's Fees

The court may choose to award attorney's fees to the prevailing, or winning, party.

Punitive Damages

These types of damages are limited to cases in which the employer's discrimination is intentional and was done with malice or reckless indifference to the individual's rights. Punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant for its behavior.

Front Pay

Designed to compensate the victim for anticipated future losses due to the discrimination when the employer refuses to reinstate the employee or the court determines that reinstatement is not feasible.

Injunctive Relief

Common examples of injunctive relief include reinstating a terminated employee or ordering the employer to prevent future discrimination.

Regarding fear of retribution, Tennessee state law protects employees through a civil cause of action for the retaliatory discharge of an employee for reporting illegal activities.

No one should have fear of harassment or fear of reporting illegal crimes or ethics violations in our county's public courthouse. No one should be subject to harassment or threats. Harassment should not be a political tool to get your way, because its clearly illegal and been used long enough in the county to control things as they are.

DA Johnson doesn't play favorites nor is he vindictive. It must have been a slow or lazy news day as the RCN dug back up the Dr. Foote fiasco from the beginning of PA Morgan's term. This re-write could have come right out of a political playbook. Yet again, the article falsely claims Morgan was being investigated by the TBI when it was actually Teresa. I really believe both DA Johnson and PA Morgan both are focused on the work at hand and would like to put Teresa Kirkham far behind them. Despite the headlines of a contrived rift between Johnson and Morgan the article rambled on from Dr. Foote's property dispute to the Melvin Moore porn investigation. Regarding the Foote case, I believe there were errors by both PA Morgan and Teresa Kirkham, so that's just a wash. After being identified, it was clearly a complex matter in which other experts helped to resolve. It sure didn't help that Teresa dated the good doctor, from the perception factor anyway.

PA Morgan's request for another DA to investigate the Moore porn scandle appeared to be due to conerns from the involved employees. It appears PA Morgan's request was focused on alleviating his employees incorrect assumptions about the DA. Teresa had often wrongly thrown around the DA's name to intimidate and specifically did so during the Moore porn scandal. Even though the DA was in no way involved, Teresa threatened by using the DA's name and false statements, therefore, I am sure her former employees had doubts about the DA. Teresa's authoritive abuse and lies can feel very real. I believe the DA clearly set the record straight when he said he would not be intimidated and would do things fairly.

I am not sure why the RCN thinks they have to run a puffed up bad story against PA Morgan just to counter balance Teresa's real story. I suppose it could have been a slow news day, but I fear it was a case of lazy reporting with a twist of political pay back.

Lets clean up this county, get back to work, and move on from Teresa's drama.

In the end, DA Johnson is trying hard to do right. PA Morgan is trying hard to do right while having to handle the office's past abuses. The RCNs is maybe trying to sell papers? Teresa is being Teresa. The people are ready to move on.

I may post the DAG's entire letter so that folks can see just how egregious the Damon Lawrence hit piece is. I'm pretty much disgusted at the lack of journalistic values at this point.

At tonight's Commission meeting, County Attorney Tom McFarland covered the Moore porn incident during his legal report. He reiterated that he was the County's legal counsel, not CTAS. He stated that his counsel was the only one binding, not CTAS. In contrast, Bobby Collier appeared to defend Teresa and porn viewing by repeating Teresa's position that if Melvin would have been fired for porn (alleged abusing tax funds/resources and falsifying time) then the ones who reported Melvin should have also been fired for catching him. Commissioner Collier incorrectly stated that the County does not have a policy, but there is already a written computer use policy in the Personnel Handbook. The policy states that computers are for authorized business use only. Instead of fighting for truth and justice, Collier appears to support retribution and continued corruption through wasting taxpayer funds. In all his wisdom, Collier serves on both the Courthouse Safety Committee and the Personnel Committee overseeing the respective policies.

Bobby is way off on this one. This sends a message that wrong doing by other employees is not to be reported. If the whistle blower employees should be fired, shouldn't Teresa have been fired for destroying evidence? And, what does it say when an elected public official has such poor supervisory skills that an employee can misuse county property while not getting his job done for ten years and not get noticed?

This is indefensible!