Jail settles in sexual harassment case

June 25--CATLETTSBURG -- A lawsuit filed by Dianna Reynolds, a now-former Boyd County Detention Center employee, against Jailer Joe Burchett over allegations Burchett ignored her complaints after she accused her supervisor of sexually harassing her was settled out of court.

The county's insurance carrier, the Kentucky Association of Counties, or KACo, will pay Reynolds $75,000 through the settlement reached June 16, The Daily Independent learned through an open records request. Burchett was represented in the case by attorney Stephen McGinnis of Greenup. Reynolds was represented by attorney Gordon Dill of Ashland.

In the original suit, filed in February of 2016, Reynolds claimed her supervisor, Jeffrey Scott Salyer, made "inappropriate sexual advances and statements" toward her in person and through electronic messages, and Burchett "refused to take remedial action."

Burchett told The Daily Independent Friday he believes counsel for the county "jumped the gun" by settling the case. "I don't know why they settled, I thought we could win that case," Burchett said.

Burchett also said he felt he had gone "by the book," in handling the situation internally.

Salyer is still employed by the jail, while Reynolds, who was a floor deputy, is not. Burchett said he demoted Salyer, the operations manager for the jail, from lieutenant to sergeant, although his pay was not reduced. Salyer and Reynolds, who both worked day shifts, were also placed on different shifts prior to her resignation, Burchett said.

Burchett told the newspaper he may take further disciplinary action against Salyer, including possible termination. The jail also plans to enact a new cell phone policy that would prohibit most employees from using personal phones during work hours, Burchett said.

According to documents in the case file, Reynolds accuses Salyer of making reference to "the girls" from "time to time" when the two would speak. Reynolds was unsure to whom or what Salyer was referring until Salyer illustrated what he meant through text messages while the two were supposedly still at work, Reynolds alleged.

Based on copies of a phone conversation included in the case file, on Aug. 8, 2015, at 5:25 p.m., Salyer sent Reynolds a photo of herself she had posted to her personal Facebook page. The photo was altered to include circles around Reynolds' breasts, and an arrow pointing to her chest. Salyer then sent a text message stating "these were the girls I was talking about lol."

About four hours later, Salyer sent another message, stating "The girls were putting in work tonight lol" according to the documents. Reynolds did not appear to respond directly to either of those messages based on the documents.

Dill stated that his client reported the exchange to her superior at the jail, deputy Matt Wolfe, three months later, and Wolfe told her he "would take the matter up with 'Tommy,' who is identified as Tom Jurta, Mr. Burchett's step-son who largely runs the jail on a day to day basis," according to the documents. "Instead of taking remedial action, the jail did nothing," Dill said.

Reynolds also claimed she subsequently reported the incident to Burchett by phone, but rather than "reassuring her" action would be taken regarding the conduct, Burchett told her "can't we all just get along," according to the complaint. Salyer testified that Burchett did talk to him about the incident, but only after the lawsuit was filed, and Burchett had no comment after Salyer explained what happened, according to documents.

Reynolds alleged Burchett later took "retaliatory actions" against her, including repeatedly calling the control room in which she worked after she and Salyer were placed on different shifts. Reynolds alleged that Burchett would immediately hang up the phone after she answered as a way to "intimidate" her.

McGinnis responded to Reynolds' allegations on behalf of Burchett, stating in a legal response that Burchett did not deny calling and hanging up on Reynolds, but "it can in no way be viewed as harassing."

"Mr. Burchett was told by his counsel to not have contact or communication with Ms. Reynolds while this lawsuit was ongoing," McGinnis wrote in the document. "In order to avoid that, when he called the control room and Reynolds was speaking, he hung the phone up. With all due respect, whether someone will talk to you or not on the telephone is a complaint a high school girl makes, not a grown woman."

Burchett's calls to the control room were "legitimate," because Reynolds admitted Burchett would call back and "speak to a different area of the jail," McGinnis continued. "As such, it's clear ... Burchett simply did not want to speak with Deputy Reynolds," based on his counsel's recommendation he not speak with her, McGinnis wrote.

Reynolds had also alleged she'd also been retaliated against by being disciplined. McGinnis wrote that the disciplinary action came in the form of a three-day suspension and was based on Reynolds leaving the sally port of the jail open, resulting in the escape of an inmate.

Burchett was also accused by Reynolds of telling another jail employee he would fire her for suing him, according to the documents. McGinnis wrote Burchett admitted he made the statement to a fellow jail employee, but it was never made directly to Reynolds.

"Further, and most importantly, no retaliatory action actually occurred," McGinnis wrote.

In a later request for case dismissal, Burchett's counsel argued Reynolds "misconstrued the facts of this case by stating that the jail did nothing about this 'harassment,'" and that Reynolds was simply not pleased with the results of the investigation. Counsel for Reynolds argued Burchett "did absolutely nothing to remedy the situation."

Through the $75,000 settlement, Reynolds agreed to dismiss all claims against Burchett. The case was scheduled for trial this summer.

(606) 326-2651 |

aadkins@dailyindependent.com

___

(c)2017 The Daily Independent (Ashland, Ky.)

Visit The Daily Independent (Ashland, Ky.) at www.dailyindependent.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.