By William Moore
Daily Journal
TUPELO – A Tupelo police officer has sued his department, arguing that he was discriminated against because of a sensitivity to mold.
According to the lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Aberdeen, Brandon Garrett said he was demoted from detective to patrolman after asking for relief from working in a building contaminated with mold.
Garrett has worked for the Tupelo Police Department for 12 years. The detectives office on Court Street became contaminated with mold and affected at least three detectives who are hypersensitive to mold. In April 2015, TPD moved out of the Court Street location and into the old National Guard Army Aviation building at the airport.
According to the lawsuit, which only details one side of the case, the city failed to clean the Court Street furniture, supplies and equipment, and transferred the contamination to the new building as well. Garrett said his medical problems became more severe after the move.
The city had an outside company test the Court Street and airport locations in April and June of 2015. In July 2015, the city said that while some mold was detected at the airport, it was at such a low level that it should not cause a health hazard.
Garrett, who is represented by Tupelo attorney Jim Waide, says he asked for a transfer to the North Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Center, which was mold free. Instead, he was transferred to the Patrol Division and had to begin training as if he was a new officer. He claims it was humiliating since he had to work under a corporal, even though as a detective he was ranked as a sergeant. In addition, he saw a $175 per month pay cut, the loss of a city-issued take-home car and the loss of a city cell phone.
According to Garrett’s lawsuit, TPD accommodated the other mold-affected detectives by moving them to a non-contaminated building and not requiring them to enter the airport building. Garrett still has to go to the airport building at least two hours a day to fill out paperwork.
The lawsuit does not set a dollar amount, but asks the jury for actual and compensatory damages.
The city of Tupelo has not responded to the federal lawsuit. Tupelo Communications Director Leesha Faulkner said in a statement that the city has not been served and does not comment on pending litigation. A trial date has not been set, but the case was assigned to Judge Sharion Aycock.
william.moore@journalinc.com
