A lawsuit filed by the former accountant for the Russellville Electric Board alleging wrongful termination and defamation as part of a six-count complaint was dismissed by Franklin County Circuit Judge Brian Hamilton last week.
Andrea Murphy, who was hired in 2006 as the accountant for the REB, was terminated in April of 2015. Her lawsuit, filed by Russellville attorney Sharon Hindman Hester, named the board members at the time (Darren Woodruff, Joan Pace, Jerry McDuffa, Dexter Hamilton and Bill Jackson), the board's manager Charles Canida and the Russellville Electric Board as defendants. The original civil action was filed March 30, 2017, and an amended complaint was later filed.
A previous court order from May 17, 2021, dismissed five of the six counts Hindman Hester filed on behalf of Murphy. The one count to survive that court order was Murphy's defamation claim against Canida and Woodruff. All other counts against the board and its individual members were dismissed.
Murphy appealed that 2021 order of dismissal to the Alabama Supreme Court but that appeal was denied.
Her remaining defamation claim was based on allegations the defendants told other people Murphy had been terminated for 'stealing money,' according to the complaint. This final claim in her complaint was dismissed by Hamilton on August 17th, bringing the case to its final conclusion.
The defamation claim centered around statements Murphy said were made by several persons in the community, who allegedly told the plaintiff , and/or her attorney, they heard Murphy had been fired for stealing. Some of those allegations were against individuals who weren't named in the lawsuit.
The defamation count against Woodruff was based on an alleged statement he made to a former employee that Murphy “had been fired for stealing.” The complaint alleged the former employee told Hindman Hester (Murphy's attorney) what Woodruff told him.
An affidavit from the former employee stated he never told Hester anything about what Woodruff supposedly said. Additionally, the former employee said Woodruff never told him Murphy had been fired for stealing.
According to court documents filed by attorneys representing Woodruff and Canida, Murphy was out of work approximately one month before landing an accounting job she's been at for more than eight years.
In order to prevail on a defamation claim under Alabama law, the plaintiff must prove a statement was published and was false and defamatory toward the plaintiff.
In the defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, defense counsel argued that Murphy could not prove publication of any alleged statements, nor could she show harm or injury as a result of any alleged defamatory statements.
Hamilton's order states the defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is granted and the remaining defamation count is dismissed.
The Court's order certified the ruling as 'final for appeal purposes,' meaning Murphy now has the option of appealing the judge's ruling.
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