Lawsuit: Ex-corrections supervisor sues Walker Co. Sheriff’s office, saying she was fired for leaking surveillance video

WALKER COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - Lawyers for a former Walker County corrections officer say leaked surveillance pictures and video show some of the abuse and neglect that led to Tony Mitchell’s death in January.

Karen Kelly believes the Walker County Sheriff’s office retaliated against her and fired her for exposing the truth, according to a federal lawsuit filed on her behalf by her attorney, Jon Goldfarb, who also represents Tony Mitchell’s family.

Goldfarb says if not for former corrections officer Kelly, this case would have been buried with Tony Mitchell. The lawsuit says the sheriff’s office falsely reported to the media that Mitchell was alert and conscious when he left jail. Kelly, after seeing the surveillance video, said that was not true. Court documents say he was ”unconscious and nearly dead when he left the jail.”

“There needs to be a federal statute requiring bystanders to report inmate abuse and provide statutory whistleblower protection to those who do,” Goldfarb said.

The lawsuit says Kelly was concerned the video would be deleted or recorded over at the sheriff’s office, and that’s why she says it needed to be seen by others.

In the lawsuit is a portion of Kelly’s termination letter signed by Sheriff Nick Smith. It says she is considered a probationary employee and goes onto to say “you have engaged in certain activities that have been discussed with you, which are considered unsatisfactory service for a variety of reasons.”

The sheriff’s office is not commenting on the lawsuits and referred us to ALEA, who’s investigating Mitchell’s death.

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