County hires private investigator: ‘Serious allegations’ to be examined

After a nearly two-hour closed meeting Tuesday night, the Barrow County Board of Commissioners voted to investigate “serious allegations” against one or more county officials.

But the commissioners would not disclose the nature of the allegations or identify who is the target of the investigation.

“The board of commissioners has received serious allegations regarding personnel in the county,” said Commissioner Steve Worley in making the motion.

The motion, which passed unanimously, directed county attorney Angela Davis to coordinate with the purchasing department for the selection of an investigator “immediately.”

Worley added: “The board will have no comment during this investigation.”

Human Resources Director Norma Jean Brown acknowledged to the Barrow Journal after the meeting that she brought the matter to the attention of four commissioners. She said she has met privately with four commissioners since Saturday and also has privately retained an Atlanta lawyer who specializes in employment law.

Brown’s attorney, Cheryl Legare of Buckley & Klein LLP, said Wednesday morning that the allegations involve gender and race discrimination as well as wage-hour violations. She said she expects to file a formal complaint to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by next week. However, Legare would not provide any further information about the case because she has just begun her own investigation into the allegations.

“We like to talk to witnesses and do our own investigation,” Legare said. “We don’t throw things around willy-nilly. We feel it would be irresponsible to talk about people without backing it up.”

Legare said the commissioners’ decision to hire an independent investigator to look into the merit of the allegations is normal procedure.

The commissioners’ vote occurred at 9:17 p.m., following an executive session that began at 7:33 p.m.

Commissioner Larry Joe Wilburn voted against going into a closed meeting.

For more on this story, see the Oct. 28 issue of the Barrow Journal.