lawsuit

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad employee is suing his employer for negligence after he broke three ribs after falling through a hole in a ballast machine when a Plexiglass shield failed, recent court filings showed.

Two retired Wyoming railroaders told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that if the allegations raised by Lance Mickelson in his lawsuit are accurate, he could have a strong case against the railroad.

“The glass underneath a grate like that should be like a car windshield and able to withstand a lot,” former Union Pacific employee and legislator Stan Blake said. “It’s a lot thicker than your normal glass. I’ve even seen bullet holes in them and seen where they could stop one.”

Mickelson filed a lawsuit against BNSF on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wyoming. He accused the company of negligence, alleging that Plexiglass was installed in a “ballast” machine rather than the standard safety glass.

The court documents said Mickelson was a maintenance of way employee working on a ballast distribution machine in Sheridan on June 13, 2019.

On the machine, there is a piece of glass that sits beneath a grate under the operator’s feet. As part of Mickelson’s job duties, he removed the grate on this day in order to clean the plexiglass underneath.

As he was cleaning the glass, the ballast machine moved. This caused the Plexiglass to fail, which then led to Mickelson falling out of the machine and six feet to the ground.

While falling, Mickelson hit the plow wing of the machine on his back, which caused him to flip over onto his stomach, hitting the track directly beneath.

As a result of the fall, Mickelson received “severe” injuries, including three broken ribs.

Mickelson claims that as a result of BNSF’s negligence, as defined by the Federal Employees’ Liability Act, he sustained severe mental and physical injuries, which have required ongoing medical treatment.

He also alleged that BNSF failed to provide him with a reasonably safe workplace.

Mickelson is asking for monetary damages in relation to his mental and physical pain and suffering, potential permanent disability, loss of enjoyment of life, past and future lost wages and future life care needs.

Retired maintenance of way employee Glen Hackman told Cowboy State Daily that Wyoming, in particular, had a “terrible” record when it came to such worker injuries and fatalities.

“In my opinion, there’s a lack of enforcement and lack of political will to hold employers accountable for how they treat people,” he said.

Blake questioned what the machine’s operator was doing that caused the machine to move and said this type of equipment should have had its brakes set and the machine turned off.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A man is suing the town of Evansville and multiple police officers for beating, tasing, pepper spraying and arresting him without probable cause or reasonable suspicion.

Brandon Wuebker is seeking an unspecified amount in financial compensation for damages he suffered in the May 2018 arrest.

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, Wuebker was being driven home by a friend on the evening of May 20, 2018. A woman was in the passenger seat and Wuebker was in the back.

Evansville Police Officer Bryce Norcross, who was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, pulled the vehicle Wuebker’s friend was driving over and claimed the driver failed to come to a complete stop at a stop sign.

Norcross obtained identification from all three passengers. The court documents argued that while the stop was routine and no one in the vehicle had outstanding warrants or done anything suspicious, two more officers arrived in support of Norcross.

The driver was given a field sobriety test while Wuebker and the woman passenger stayed in the vehicle.

At the beginning of the encounter, Wuebker informed the officers that he needed to use the bathroom and asked permission to do so at a nearby gas station.

He began to exit the car in attempt to walk to the restroom, but the two officers who had recently arrived “aggressively” ordered him to stay in the car and informed him that he was not free to leave.

Evansville Sgt. Luke Nelson, one of the two officers to arrive later on scene and who was named as a defendant in the case, was apparently annoyed by minor protests made by the female passenger, who allegedly called the officer a[n] “[expletive] pig” and another term that is not publishable.

Nelson then apparently declared his intention to “[expletive] these people up,” the lawsuit said.

Wuebker also ordered out of the vehicle and told he was under arrest.

“Mr. Wuebker was very confused by the conflicting orders being yelled at him,” the court documents said.

The officers then attempted to force Wuebker out of the two-door vehicle. Without warning, one of them pepper-sprayed Wuebker, then grabbed the man and “violently” dragged him out of the car.

As this was happening, the other officer fired his taser into Wuebker’s chest.

The officers also slammed Wuebker headfirst onto the road pavement, the lawsuit said, which caused a “gaping head wound.” The officer again deployed his Taser into Wuebker, this time into his back.

He allegedly told Wuebker if the man moved at all, the officer would again tase him.

McGraw also kneed Wuebker in the ribs, the lawsuit said. Photos taken from the officers’ body camera footage shown Wuebker bleeding on the ground. According to the court documents, it was later found that Wuebker suffered a concussion due to the encounter and a wound that required stitches.

“Although Mr. Wuebker was not resisting arrest and presented no threat to anyone after he was slammed to the ground, all three defendant officers went hands on to forcibly and aggressively detain him,” the court documents said.

Wuebker was later taken to the Natrona County Detention Center and charged with obstructing a peace officer.

In February 2019, the charge against Wuebker was dismissed.

Wuebker’s attorneys argued that the town of Evansville failed to properly train, supervise and discipline its officers, which led to his encounter in May 2018.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A pair of hunters from North Dakota and Pennsylvania have filed a lawsuit against the Wyoming Game and Fish Department alleging they were wrongfully arrested on hunting charges in 2019 and are asking for damages of $2 million each

Blendi Cumani of North Dakota and Roland Shehu of Pennsylvania allege that while hunting in Park County in October 2019, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Warden Chris Queen began an investigation into the killing of three elk that were allegedly abandoned and left to waste in the area.

According to the lawsuit filed in state district court in Park County, the warden detained Cumani and Shehu, ordering them to remain in the county during his investigation and preventing them from returning to their homes.

The men argued in the lawsuit that the warden’s investigation failed to show they shot the elk and evidence actually proved they did not, but Queen pursued criminal charges against the two. Cumani and Shehu faced charges that were punishable by six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

Wyoming state law forbids the “failure of any person to properly dress and care for any big game animal killed by that person, and if the carcass is reasonably accessible, within 48 hours to take or transport the carcass to the camp of that person, and there properly care for the carcass.”

“During the course of the criminal proceedings … Queen and others with whom he acted … misrepresented to and/or concealed from prosecutors the true and complete facts that had been discovered and developed during the investigation into the deaths of the elk,” the lawsuit said.

Cumani and Shehu requested jury trials, which took place in September 2020. Both men were found not guilty of killing the elk.

The men argued that Queen did not have probable cause to detain or arrest them, which they say violated their constitutional rights. They also accused the department of malicious prosecution.

The men are asking for damages of $2 million each for past and future emotional pain and suffering and for past and future loss of enjoyment of life.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing the statute of limitations on the allegations has expired.

It was not clear if the person who shot the elk was identified or charged.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A former Albany County sheriff’s deputy is arguing he is exempt from a lawsuit filed over his fatal shooting of an unarmed motorist in 2018.

Derek Colling, who shot and killed former Laramie resident Robbie Ramirez in 2018, said in his latest motion in the lawsuit that as a government official, he enjoys “qualified immunity” from lawsuits filed over his actions while on duty. As a result, he is seeking a summary judgment in his favor from the federal court in the lawsuit filed against him by Ramirez’ mother.

Colling shot Ramirez three times after a traffic stop in Laramie in November of 2018. Ramirez was shot after being tasered by Colling.

Ramirez’s mother, Debra Hinkel, filed a lawsuit against Colling, former sheriff David O’Malley, the Albany County Board of Commissioners and current sheriff Aaron Appelhans, claiming excessive force was used against her son, that the sheriff’s office used inadequate hiring practices in hiring Colling and then failed to properly train him.

But Colling, in his request for a summary judgment in his favor, said videos of the incident showed he was acting appropriately.

“Video footage of the incident shows that Colling acted appropriately and that there was no constitutional violation,” documents filed in U.S. Court on March 18 said. “The use of force in response to Ramirez’s actions was not excessive, but justified and objectively reasonable under the circumstances.”

Colling said Ramirez attacked him, which then led to the shooting. His request for a summary judgment denied that he used excessive force.

Hinkel, in her lawsuit, has claimed that defendants deleted five “crucial” seconds of video footage from Colling’s body camera and deleted audio from his dash camera footage, thereby “severely” hindering Hinkel’s ability to show that the shooting was not justified.

Colling’s request did not address the allegation.

Both O’Malley and the county commissioners have also filed documents asking a judge to rule in their favor in the lawsuit.

Before joining the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, Colling shot and killed a 15-year-old boy in 2009 while working as a police officer in Las Vegas, an incident that led to a lengthy lawsuit. He was fired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 2011 for the alleged assault of a videographer trying to film police work, according to WyoFile.

Colling resigned from the sheriff’s office in June 2021.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A former Albany County sheriff’s deputy is asking a U.S. District Court judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former co-worker that accuses him of racial discrimination.

In court documents filed earlier this week, Christian Handley said that plaintiff Jamin Johnson’s lawsuit accusing Johnson of racism that created a hostile work environment was filed after the statute of limitations for such claims and therefore should be dismissed.

“The only timely allegation of adverse treatment involves a discrete disciplinary action in which Handley supposedly persuaded former Albany County Sheriff David O’Malley to issue an ultimatum to Johnson insisting he either accept a suspension and demotion or resign,” the court documents said. “This allegation is conclusory, devoid of the factual detail necessary to plausibly suggest the decision was the product of racial animus and therefore fails to meet the pleading standards for employment discrimination cases…”

In January, Johnson filed the lawsuit against Handley, alleging that during the 10-year period he worked at the sheriff’s department, from 2007 to 2017, his supervisor Handley “relentlessly” demeaned him with racial slurs and innuendos, even once in front of Johnson’s wife and children.

The lawsuit alleges that at the end of 2016, Handley was promoted to patrol sergeant and “immediately orchestrated a sham disciplinary process” to force Johnson out of the department due to his race.

Handley’s request for dismissal argued that Johnson’s complaint provided no details of the “sham disciplinary actions” and provided no details about specific conduct at issue or how Handley treated him differently from any other officer under his supervision.

Johnson’s lawsuit also said Handley fabricated numerous disciplinary actions against Johnson in rapid succession and then persuaded the department to give Johnson an ultimatum: Johnson could demote himself to a position still under Handley or leave the department.

On Aug. 2, 2017, Johnson resigned.

But Handley’s request said Johnson did not claim to have notified anyone in the sheriff’s office chain of command about the “pernicious racism and discrimination” he allegedly endured for years from Handley.”

Handley’s lawyer also said that Johnson waited for several years to file a lawsuit, doing so only after another lawsuit was filed against the former deputy.

The earlier lawsuit, filed in 2020, alleged Handley and another officer pressured sexual assault victims to recant their allegations. Handley and the other officer were dropped from the lawsuit when a judge ruled they could not be held personally liable in the case. However, the judge also said the officers handled the case poorly.

Johnson’s lawsuit said in 2021, the department conducted an internal investigation, which substantiated Johnson’s claims of racism. It also alleged that the investigation showed Handley had received unfair preferential treatment throughout his employment at the department, which emboldened his misconduct.

According to Johnson’s lawsuit, Handley routinely referred to Johnson, the only Black officer in the department, with slurs such as “jigaboo” and the n-word. It alleged Handley once also asked if Johnson had sex with a Black woman and when Johnson said nothing, Handley said “That would be nasty. That would be like having sex with a dog.”

Johnson is asking for damages due to his lost income and benefits from having to resign, lost employment opportunities, psychological and emotional anguish, distress, pain and suffering and attorneys’ fees.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

The mother of a man killed by a former Albany County sheriff’s deputy in 2018 is suing several people, alleging that they were involved in the destruction and alteration of video and audio evidence from the shooting.

Debra Hinkel’s lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court on March 10. Her son, Robbie Ramirez, was shot and killed by former deputy Derek Colling in November 2018.

Hinkel is suing Colling, former sheriff David O’Malley, the Albany County Board of Commissioners and current Albany County Sheriff Aaron Applehans. However, the lawsuit does note that the motion is not actually directed at Applehans, who took over for O’Malley after the Ramirez shooting.

Colling, who was a corporal with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, shot and killed Robbie Ramirez, 39, during an altercation that occurred after a traffic stop in November 2018. He was cleared of wrongdoing in the incident by a grand jury.

In the lawsuit, Hinkel alleges that the defendants, excluding Applehans, deleted five “crucial” seconds of video footage from Colling’s body camera and deleted audio from his dash camera footage, thereby “severely” hindering Hinkel’s ability to show that the shooting was not justified.

She also claims that the county commissioners presented the altered copies of both videos to the public, and assumes this is the same evidence presented to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the grand jury that cleared Colling.

“The ‘copy’ of Deputy Colling’s body camera ends one second before Colling opened fire on Ramirez,” the lawsuit states. “Because Colling’s body camera was set up to track the movements of his firearm, the five seconds of deleted footage likely would have shown Ramirez badly wounded and face down on the ground when Colling killed him with two shots to the back.”

Hinkel additionally alleged that the Albany County Sheriff’s Office removed the audio from Colling’s dash cam footage.

The lawsuit also notes that Albany County Sheriff Lt. John Beeston testified to intentionally deleting the original body camera and dash cam footage less than a year after the shooting took place.

“It is unclear what this video showed, but at a minimum, it would have shown Colling’s demeanor and actions on the morning of the shooting,” the court documents state.

Colling and O’Malley disputed Hinkel’s claims in court documents filed on Friday.

Colling also shot and killed a 15-year-old boy in 2009 while working as a police officer in Las Vegas, a shooting that led to a lengthy lawsuit. He was fired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 2011 for an alleged assault of a videographer trying to film police work, according to WyoFile.

Colling resigned from the sheriff’s office in June 2021.

Hinkel previously filed another lawsuit regarding her son’s death, calling it a miscarriage of justice.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against BNSF Railway Company in connection with a vehicle crash that killed her father in the Wind River Canyon last summer.

Kellie Martin, a Montana resident, filed the lawsuit this week in U.S. District Court and asked for an damages in an amount to be determined in trial.

In the lawsuit, Martin alleged that BNSF was negligent in hiring, retaining, training, entrusting and supervising the employee who was driving a BNSF vehicle that struck the vehicle her father was driving last summer, killing him. Since the man was an employee of the company and driving in a BNSF vehicle, the company is liable for her father’s death, the lawsuit said.

According to the court documents, around 5:30 p.m. on June 18, 73-year-old Patrick Moore was traveling northbound on U.S. Highway 20 in the Wind River Canyon.

At the same time, Douglas Wallage, a BNSF employee driving a company truck, was headed southbound on the same highway.

Wallage passed a Chevy pickup while on the highway, and then attempted to pass a Cadillac Escalade towing a boat and trailer.

However, when he entered the northbound lane to pass the Cadillac, he hit Patrick Moore’s vehicle head-on, killing Moore.

“Wallage breached his duty to operate the BNSF vehicle in a safe, prudent and responsible manner and to keep an eye out [for] other vehicles when he negligently entered Moore’s lane of traffic causing a head-on collision with Moore’s vehicle at highway speeds,” the lawsuit said. “Wallage’s conduct described above was outrageous and utterly reckless and a reasonable person would know that such outrageous conduct was highly likely to injure or kill someone.”

According to a Wyoming Highway Patrol crash report, Moore was not wearing his seatbelt when the crash occurred.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A Powell public works department employee is suing the Park County Board of Commissioners and the Park County Public Works Department, alleging she was paid less than her male counterparts because of gender discrimination.

According to court documents filed in U.S. District Court, Sparkie Cornett worked as a seasonal employee for the county’s public works department from 2014 until 2016, when she was hired on as a full-time equipment operator.

Cornett was trained to drive a commercial truck, operate a front-end loader and other equipment, repair potholes, lay gravel and more. She was hired at $13.71 per hour.

Cornett performed her job with equal skill, effort and responsibility and under the same conditions as the men in the department, the lawsuit said. In 2017, she was promoted and received a pay raise to $14.59 an hour and was given a cost-of-living adjustment (along with the rest of the department) one year later.

Cornett was again promoted but without a payment increase, and in June 2018, she was transferred to the Powell office of the Public Works Department, where she still is employed. She is supervised by Delray “Paco” Johnson, who has been her boss since her transfer.

Upon her transfer to Powell, Cornett was no longer trained on new equipment and was separated from the rest of the crew in work duties, which stalled her career and pay increases, the lawsuit said.

She was also not allowed to work overtime on Fridays, although her male counterparts were allowed to do so.

In 2018, the department hired a man as a higher-level equipment operator, although he did not meet the qualifications for the job and had to be trained to operate the heavy equipment and on the county road systems, the lawsuit said In 2020, this man was paid $43,494.36.

In 2019, another man was hired to be a higher-level equipment operator, but did not have the experience necessary for the job, so he had to be trained. In 2020, this man was paid $34,742.60, the lawsuit said.

In 2020, Cornett was paid $32,041.01 for performing work equal to that performed by the other two men. This was again the case in 2021, the lawsuit said.

While Cornett was promoted twice in 2021 and her pay was increased to $17.40 an hour, she claimed in the lawsuit that she had more seniority, experience operating heavy equipment and knowledge of the county road systems than the two men who were hired at a higher salary.

She is asking for back pay and all other appropriate monetary and equitable relief in an amount to be determined by a jury at trial.

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By Jim Angell, Cowboy State Daily

A Gillette sauce company is being sued by the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team on allegations it reneged on a sponsorship agreement.

The Brewers are seeking more than $200,000 from the Wyoming Sauce Co., alleging the company is guilty of breach of contract.

According to a lawsuit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court in Wisconsin on Feb. 4, Wyoming Sauce and the Brewers entered into a sponsorship agreement in July 2018. Under the agreement, Wyoming Sauce agreed to be a sponsor for the team for the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons, giving it certain signage and promotional rights.

According to the lawsuit, the sauce company agreed to pay the Brewers $100,000 in 2019, $105,000 in 2020 and $110,000 in 2021 for sponsorship rights.

Wyoming Sauce paid the 2019 sponsorship fee, the lawsuit said, but asked for changes in its agreement for the 2020 season, which was shortened by the coronavirus and did not begin until July 24.

The Brewers agreed to cancel Wyoming Sauce’s 2020 sponsorship and make up the lost year with a sponsorship in 2022.

However, Wyoming Sauce failed to pay its sponsorship fee in 2021, the lawsuit said.

The Brewers sent a “demand letter” to the company in November seeking payment of the 2021 sponsorship fee, the lawsuit said.

“Since the delivery of the Demand Letter, the Club has repeatedly attempted to make contact with (Wyoming Sauce), with no success,” it said. “Sponsor has ceased responding to and communicating with the club.”

The April 1 deadline for the payment of the 2022 sponsorship fee is approaching, the lawsuit said, and “as a result of the sponsor’s material breach, the club is entitled to payment of the 2022 sponsorship fee as damages.”

The lawsuit asked for at least $215,000 in damages and legal fees.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Actor Alec Baldwin has been given until April 4 to respond to a defamation lawsuit filed by the family of a U.S. Marine from Wyoming who was killed last August.

Baldwin, in documents filed in U.S. District Court in Wyoming, waived the requirement that a summons be served to him personally in New York, but retained the right to challenge the location of the trial, the court’s jurisdiction over the claims against him and the lawsuit itself.

He has been given 60 days to respond to the lawsuit from Feb. 3, the date the request for a waiver from the summons requirement was sent.

Roice and Cheyenne McCollum, the sisters of Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, and his widow Jiennah McCollum are asking for damages of at least $25 million in the lawsuit filed last month in U.S. District Court in Wyoming.

According to the lawsuit, Baldwin first contacted the McCollum family in August after Rylee McCollum was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan.

Baldwin reached out to Roice McCollum, Rylee’s older sister, and sent her a check for $5,000 for Jiennah McCollum and her child.

The check was “a tribute to a fallen soldier,” Baldwin told Roice.

The court documents state that on Jan. 3, Roice posted a photo on her Instagram page that she took on Jan. 6, 2021, showing a crowd of demonstrators at the Washington Monument. Roice posted the photo, the lawsuit said, in anticipation of the 1-year anniversary of the invasion of the U.S. Capitol.

While Roice attended a demonstration in Washington, D.C., in support of former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, she was not involved in the riot and while she was later interviewed by the FBI, she was never accused of or charged with a crime.

Baldwin commented on Roice’s posting, asking, “Are you the same woman I sent the $ for your sister’s husband who was killed during the Afghanistan exit?”

Upon confirmation that she was the sister of Rylee McCollum, Baldwin sent private messages Roice and accused her of being an insurrectionist.

“When I sent the $ for your late brother, out of real respect for his service to this country, I didn’t know you were a January 6th rioter,” Baldwin wrote in one message.

Roice responded by telling the actor that protesting was legal in the United States and that she had already spoken with the FBI, but he persisted, according to the lawsuit.

“Your activities resulted in the unlawful destruction of government property, the death of a law enforcement officer, an assault on the certification of the presidential election. I reposted your photo. Good luck,” Baldwin wrote back.

Baldwin later claimed on social media that he was trying to point out irony in his reposting of her photo, by juxtaposing her brother’s sacrifice for the country with Roice being an “insurrectionist.”

Baldwin reposted Roice’s photo on his own Instagram account, which has 2.4 million followers, discussing the Capitol attack and mentioning Roice’s involvement in the protest on Jan. 6, 2021.

Within 20 minutes of his post, Roice began to receive hostile, aggressive and hateful messages from Baldwin’s followers, the lawsuit said.

One message said “Get raped and die, you worthless [expletive]. Your brother got what he deserved.” Roice forwarded this message on to Baldwin, sarcastically thanking him for the post.

Baldwin ultimately followed the person who sent the message on Instagram. He also chimed in on the feed, calling Roice an insurrectionist and claiming she participated in the riot.

He also misidentified Jiennah as an insurrectionist in one Instagram comment, although she was not in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. People began sending hateful and threatening messages Jiennah and Cheyenne McCollum, Rylee’s eldest sister.

Other messages called on Baldwin to get a refund of his money and comparing the McCollum family to ISIS and Nazis.

Baldwin did nothing to stop his followers from contacting the family, the lawsuit said.

“Baldwin’s conduct was negligent and reckless as he should have known that making the allegations he did against Plaintiffs to his millions of followers would cause Plaintiffs harm,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit claims the three women have suffered from headaches, nausea, loss of sleep, severe anxiety, mental distress and fear for their lives due to Baldwin’s post.

The lawsuit seeks damages for all three women on allegations of defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

An elderly Ohio woman is suing a Casper motel after she tripped on a carpet and broke her femur in September, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.

According to the documents, Dianne Snyder, 74, was visiting Wyoming from Ohio with her husband on Sept. 11, 2021. The couple decided to stay at the National 9 Inn, also known as the Showboat Motel, because they liked the nautical theme.

As the Snyders checked into the motel, they were given a wagon to carry their luggage in and instructed to not use the front or side door of the building, only the back, even though their room was near the front of the building. There were “multiple” rugs on top of the carpet and on top of tile flooring toward the front door.

The wagon the Snyders were given was not a typical luggage cart, as it was low to the ground and had a handle that was not fixed in place, the lawsuit said. Snyder guided the wagon and her husband pushed it from behind.

The couple wheeled the wagon through the back door to get their luggage. As they wheeled the cart back toward the front of the motel, Snyder tripped and fell over a rug “that had been placed on top of an especially frayed portion of the motel’s indoor carpet.”

She could not hold the wagon’s handle for support, as it was not fixed in place. She fell to the side and landed on the tile floor that adjoined the hallway, hearing a crack.

Her left shoulder, hip and knee hit the flooring.

Snyder was then transported by ambulance to the Wyoming Medical Center, where she stayed for 11 days. She had broken her femur in two places and underwent surgery.

According to the lawsuit, Snyder’s injuries have impacted her ability to walk and sleep normally and she is consistently in pain. She has also had to use walking aides since the incident.

The lawsuit accuses the motel for breaching its duty of care to Snyder by failing to warn or repair the dangerous conditions in the common areas, failing to discover and mitigate the dangerous condition existing in the area, providing Snyder dangerous equipment and other failures to act.

The lawsuit also accuses the motel of negligence.

Snyder is asking for punitive and exemplary damages.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A Cheyenne nonprofit advocacy organization is suing the administrators of the Wyoming State Hospital and Wyoming Department of Health for restricting access to the hospital’s patients.

Protection and Advocacy Systems is a federally-funded organization that works at the state level to protect people with disabilities by empowering them and advocating on their behalf. There are 57 of these organizations in the United States.

The lawsuit was filed Jan. 18 in U.S. District Court and named WDH interim director Stefan Johansson and WSH administrator Paul Mullenax as defendants. The health department oversees the hospital.

Protection and Advocacy is asking for a judge to prevent Johansson and Mullenax from restricting “full, complete and meaningful access by [P&A] to patients of the Wyoming State Hospital.”

The organization accused hospital officials and the state of Wyoming repeatedly attempting to block, delay, impede and obstruct its federal access authority.

The documents also alleged that since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the organization staffers began to experience increased telephone access deprivations when attempting to contact hospital patients.

A number of examples were given, with one instance noting a P&A advocate attempting to get in touch with a patient over a nearly two week period, only to find out they were being discharged once the advocate spoke with the patient.

In September 2021, P&A, Mullenax, Johansson and their attorneys participated in a “lengthy” meeting in attempt to resolve the telephone access deprivation, but was unsuccessful.

Dozens of more instances of P&A being denied access to WSH patients were detailed in the lawsuit and suggested that hospital employees were using their caller IDs to screen calls from the organization’s advocates.

The lawsuit noted several other instances of what happens when the facilities operated “in walled secrecy,” such as patients being raped by staff, leaving a patient in a chair for more than 24 hours and allowing them to be bit countless times by ants or even patients dying.

In addition to asking for access to WSH patients in need, P&A also asked for the defendants to pay its attorneys fees and other incurred costs.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A former Lander city employee is suing the city and its public works director, alleging he was discriminated against due to his military status and was improperly fired.

Michael Clancy is suing the city and public works director Lance Hopkin in U.S. District Court, claiming they violated his federal and state due process rights and discriminated against him due to his status as a member of the armed services.

“Defendants discriminated against Mr. Clancy by imposing adverse employment actions including but not limited to, forced resignation, because of his status as a service member in the (Army National Guard) in violation of (federal law),” the lawsuit said.

According to court documents, Clancy worked for the city of Lander for more than 15 years as a water treatment plant operator. Clancy is also a member of the Army National Guard who was deployed to Iraq between 2009 and 2010.

Upon return from his deployment, the city of Lander paid the retirement that he would have earned had he not been deployed, including contributions he would have made.

In September 2018, Clancy was again deployed, this time to Afghanistan. Upon his return in August 2020, Hopkin, Clancy’s new supervisor, denied Clancy his prorated salary, as well as his benefits, from the period of his deployment.

Clancy thought his boss’ decision was unfounded, so he contacted a Veterans Affairs representative to look into the situation. The representative contacted Hopkin and tried to explain that Clancy was entitled to a portion of his salary and benefits, as well as military benefits, while he was deployed.

Hopkin was not receptive to the information, questioned who the representative was and asked what authority he/she had to tell him what to do regarding his employees, the lawsuit said.

After much resistance, Clancy did ultimately receive his prorated salary.

However, Hopkin required Clancy to pay almost $5,000 in employee contributions to retirement he accrued while deployed, which was not the same arrangement made the first time he was deployed.

Additionally, when Clancy returned to work, Hopkin assigned him to work at the cemetery, even though he is experienced and licensed as a water treatment plant operator and there was a shortage of operators at the water treatment plant. At the cemetery, Clancy’s duties were mostly related to lawn care.

The reassignment resulted in a loss of on-call pay and overtime Clancy would have received if he was working as a water treatment plant operator.

Clancy was eventually transferred back to the plant in November of 2020.

Since his return from Afghanistan, Hopkin treated Clancy worse than other employees who were not in the Guard, even refusing to speak to Clancy for a time, the lawsuit said

Hopkin also denied Clancy two promotion opportunities by not advertising the positions to him and misrepresenting certain facts about other employment availability, the lawsuit alleged.

For example, in October 2018, the water superintendent position became available, and Hopkin emailed all employees in the department about the job other than Clancy, and the person who was hired did not have as much administrative experience or seniority as Clancy.

In February 2021, an HR position was advertised, and although Clancy expressed interest, Hopkin steered him toward applying for an assistant water superintendent position. Clancy did not apply for the HR position, and when he later asked Hopkin about the assistant superintendent job, he discovered it did not actually exist.

Hopkin also told Clancy in April 2021 that he had some concerns about Clancy’s deployments, but would not elaborate on this.

The week of May 3, 2021, the water treatment plant had issues making potable water, which Clancy and his colleagues had been working on. On May 7, Clancy’s scheduled day off, he drove to Spearfish, South Dakota, which he had informed his co-workers about.

About an hour away from Spearfish, Hopkin called Clancy and told him to come into work, but Clancy said he was six hours away from Lander, but would be back late that night and could work that weekend. Hopkin told Clancy he needed to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and placed Clancy on administrative leave.

Following “an extremely biased investigation,” Hopkin gave Clancy the choice to be fired or resign for negligence, insubordination and dishonesty.

“These reasons are baseless and not supported by the evidence,” the lawsuit said. “Mr. Clancy was forced to resign under protest so that he could retain his retirement.”

While Clancy’s job description does say there might be on-call work requirements and 24-hour standby, Clancy was never told he was on a standby or on-call duty when he left for South Dakota. In the past, whenever Clancy was required to be on call, he was told in advance.

Prior to the incident with Hopkin, all of Clancy’s employee evaluations had been satisfactory and he was never put on notice for job performance.

Clancy claims he and his family have been damaged by the job loss and although he has gotten a job driving trucks in Fremont County, the pay and benefits are “substantially less” than at the city.

However, Clancy does not want his job back, due to the way he has been treated.

In the lawsuit, Clancy is asking to be paid back for lost wages and benefits, on call pay, emotional stress and attorney’s fees.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Current and former Employees of hospitals in Cheyenne and Douglas are suing their employers over their COIVD vaccination policies.

In a federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Dec. 22 by Buffalo attorney Nick Beduhn, two Cheyenne Regional Medical Center employees and six Memorial Hospital of Converse County employees asked a federal judge for an injunction against their employers to prevent the hospitals from enforcing their COVID vaccination policies. The lawsuit argues the policies are contrary to federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

“Plaintiffs contend that the policies issued and allowed by the (hospitals) are directly contrary to (federal law) … the Constitution of the State of Wyoming, and the … Federal Constitution; all of which protect the natural fundamental rights,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit stated that one of the plaintiffs, former CRMC registered nurse Christie Higgins, was employed by the Cheyenne hospital for more than 10 years before she was fired in mid-December. She received the Pfizer vaccine in April and almost immediately began suffering from adverse side effects, ultimately experiencing tremors and weakness.

In May, a neurologist diagnosed Higgins with a “Covid-19 vaccine related neurological disorder,” the lawsuit said.

In the lawsuit, Higgins said she was never told about “foreseeable risks and discomfort” of getting the vaccine.

The lawsuit added that “many other” CRMC employees were aware of Higgins’ situation and were hesitant to get the vaccine due to her side effects. They all face possible termination due to their refusal to get the vaccine.

“Worse yet are the nurses that are injecting the vaccines. Many have been told by their employer that they ‘cannot say anything negative’ about the vaccines with the treat (sic) of termination if they do,” the lawsuit said. “These nurses are required by federal law and regulation to fully inform the patient; and yet face being fired if they comply . . . They are literally in a situation that they must risk their license; or be fired.”

Most of the other plaintiffs were refusing the vaccine on “legal, ethical, scientific and strong religious/scientific grounds.”

The lawsuit also alleged that the available vaccines have not been vetted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but were approved for use under the adoption of emergency rules. It said as a result, no one can be forced to get the vaccine.

“In other words, there is currently NO FDA approved Covid-19 injection available anywhere in the United States. Every Covid shot in America remains under the (emergency use authorization) law and thus people have the ‘option to accept or refuse’ them,” the lawsuit said.

In late November, CRMC implemented its vaccination policy, requiring employees to either get vaccinated against COVID or submit to weekly COVID tests.

The MHCC has postponed implementing its vaccination policy until the end of January.

As part of his proposed national vaccine mandate, President Joe Biden called for the full immunization of all health care workers. Under rules issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, health care facilities whose employees were not fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 could lose Medicare and Medicaid funds.

Wyoming and nine other states sued the CMS, claiming the agency lacked the authority to implement the requirement and a federal judge in Missouri has issued a preliminary injunction to block the requirement. Judge Matthew Schelp ruled that in trial, the states would probably be successful in their claims.

The injunction is in place in the 10 participating states at least until hearings into the lawsuit itself can begin. As a result, the length of time it will be in place is not known.

In addition to the health care workers, Beduhn is representing a number of plaintiffs in another federal lawsuit against the state of Wyoming, six school districts, five county health officers and more, asking that all mask requirements in place in some schools across the state be ruled unconstitutional and declared void.

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By The Buffalo Bulletin

The Buffalo Bulletin was victorious in the libel lawsuit brought by the Patriot Conservatives of Johnson County Political Action Committee. 

“We are happy this whole ugly saga is over,” Bulletin publisher Robb Hicks said. “This was never about libel. It was about trying to punish the newspaper because the Patriot Conservatives didn’t like what was said about them. They tried to weaponize the court system to bully us into submission. Thankfully, the judge clearly saw through their ruse. We are grateful to our attorney, Chris Wages, and are pleased that justice prevailed.”

On Dec. 8, Fourth Judicial District Judge William Edelman granted the Buffalo Bulletin’s motion for judgment on the pleadings because the plaintiff’s complaint failed to show slander, defamation or libel, and the plaintiff is not authorized to file a civil lawsuit alleging a violation of election law. 

The conservative PAC filed the suit in the Fourth Judicial District Court on Aug. 16.

The suit alleged that the defendants, Weiser Signal American Inc., the Buffalo Bulletin Inc., Pronghorn Publishing Inc., Frontier Newspapers Inc., and Eclipse Media, Inc. published “false defamatory articles and ads.” The plaintiffs sought $36 million as damages — “the full tax dollar amount” for a 1% special use tax ballot measure before voters that failed on Aug. 17. The PAC also alleged the Buffalo Bulletin violated Wyoming election statutes.

In a motion hearing on Nov. 10, Chris Wages, attorney for the Buffalo Bulletin, asked Edelman for a judgment on the pleadings.

In his order, Edelman ruled the PAC failed to “allege or identify any oral communication made by Eclipse Media, Inc., which is required for a claim of slander.”

Edelman ruled that even if the allegations in the complaint are true, the plaintiff has no cause for action for defamation because the PAC is considered a public figure that inserted itself into a public controversy and they failed to make any credible claim for economic damages.

“As for the damage to Plaintiff’s reputation, there are no facts pled to show how or to what extent the publication affected Plaintiff — for example, there is no indication that Plaintiff lost members or monetary support as a result of the publication. Furthermore, to the extent Plaintiff attempts to tie the $36 million dollar tax levy to alleged injury, the issue is moot because the ballot measure failed on August 17, 2021.”

The plaintiff alleged Eclipse Media, Inc. violated Wyoming election statutes by printing an advertisement for a political action committee without disclosing who approved and paid for the ad.

However, Edelman wrote that Wyoming election law does not authorize private civil action for a violation of the Election Code. Therefore, the PAC is not authorized to bring this complaint. 

Edelman dismissed the complaint against defendants Weiser Signal American Inc., the Buffalo Bulletin Inc., Pronghorn Publishing Inc., and Frontier Newspapers Inc. because either the entities no longer exist or there is no nexus — or connection — between any actions taken by the defendants and any injury alleged by the plaintiff. 

Because there is no connection between the defendants and Eclipse Media Inc., publisher of the Buffalo Bulletin newspaper, there is no relief that the court could grant. 

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By Jim Angell, Cowboy State Daily

Two Park County Sheriff’s deputies are asking that a lawsuit filed against them over the detention of a Missouri family in 2017 be dismissed.

Robert Cooke and Brett Tillery, in a motion filed in U.S. District Court, argued in part they cannot be sued for the detention of the Hemry family because they were doing their jobs as law enforcement officers at the time and as such are immune from being sued.

“Defendants were engaged in assisting with a lawful investigative detention and seizure necessary to resolve reports of a potentially violent fugitive in the vehicle, while also ensuring the safety of the officers and during the stop,” said the motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “The investigatory detention did not turn into arrest, and the use of force was not excessive under the circumstances.”

The lawsuit filed in July stems from allegations that Brett and Genalyn Hemry and their daughter, all of Independence, Missouri, were held at gunpoint for almost one hour after Brett Hemry was mistakenly identified as a suspect in a triple murder in Idaho.

The Hemrys were stopped by National Park Service rangers after leaving the east gate of Yellowstone National Park. Brett and Genalyn Hemry were later detained in the back of Park County Sheriff’s deputies cars. The three were allowed to leave when Brett Hemry was allowed to display his identification, about an hour after the stop occurred.

The Hemrys sued Cooke and Tillery, along with the Park Service rangers involved.

In their request that the portion of the lawsuit against them be dismissed, Cooke and Tillery said the Hemrys’ lawsuit did not specify what they did to violate the Hemrys’ rights.

“There are no facts alleged that would indicate, under the deference afforded to law enforcement in such circumstances, that the … defendants had knowingly violated any clearly established rights,” the motion said.

The motion said the lawsuit claims “completely miss the required allegations of who did what to whom and when.

”The lawsuit alleged officers pointed guns at Brett and Genalyn Hemry and forced them to walk to the Park County Sheriff’s deputy’s cars, but the motion to dismiss said Cooke and Tillery were not specifically identified as the officers who took that action.

“A general assertion that ‘a defendant’ or ‘one or more defendants’ did this or that is insufficient to satisfy the plausibility standard of pleasing in federal court,” the motion said.

In addition, police officers enjoy some immunity from lawsuits when they are doing their jobs, the motion said.

The detention of the Hemrys was justified given the danger posed by the murder suspect who was still at large, the motion said, and it was ended as soon as officers were able to determine Hemry was not the wanted suspect.

“Given the violent nature of the crimes (the murder suspect) was suspected of committing, as well as the specific reporting that tied him to a vehicle matching the description of the one driven by the Hemrys, it was reasonable for the officers to make the stop, and take the time necessary to thoroughly and cautiously determine the identity of the occupants in a manner that ensured the safety of the officers and the public,” the motion said. “While having guns drawn on them and being handcuffed was understandably disturbing to (the Hemrys), these actions were reasonably necessary under the circumstances to resolve the suspected connection with Bullinger and protect public safety.”

The motion also denied that excessive force was used during the detention, along with claims that the Hemrys were subjected to false imprisonment.

“While (the Hemrys) were briefly detained in their Toyota, and later Mr. and Mrs. Hemry were placed in the law enforcement vehicles to verify whether (the murder suspect) was in the (Hemrys’) car, to identify Mr. Hemry, and the absence of any connection with (the murder suspect), they were never taken to jail or otherwise imprisoned. In fact, they were free to go soon after Mr. Hemry’s identity was confirmed.”

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By Jim Angell, Cowboy State Daily

A federal jury has awarded Guernsey’s former police chief more than $300,000 in her lawsuit alleging that her reports of misconduct within the town’s government resulted in her firing.

However, a federal judge in July ordered the town and former Police Chief Terri Van Dam to mediate a settlement of the lawsuit and all related issues, resulting in a settlement that was reached in mid-August.

Van Dam worked as a police officer for Guernsey for five years, the last year as its chief of police. She sued the town in April 2020 after being fired the previous January.

In her complaint, Van Dam said she had started an investigation on her own time in 2018 into allegations of misconduct involving town officials and employees. She alleged that she was fired in January of 2020 after sharing the results of her investigation with the state Division of Criminal Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Van Dam kept the fact she had sent information to the DCI and FBI confidential, but shared it with the town’s attorney when she determined her town email account had been hacked and some email had been read. 

According to the complaint, the town attorney told the town council about the investigation and reports to the DCI and FBI on Jan. 7, 2020.On Jan. 15, 2020, Van Dam was fired by Guernsey Mayor Nick Paustian.

Van Dam alleged she was fired for exercising her First Amendment rights to freedom of speech by collecting evidence of and reporting illegal activity to state and federal law enforcement agencies.

“The town negatively impacted its own interest in efficient public service by attempting to cover up alleged illicit activity by terminating employees that would not get on the same plane as the bad actors,” the complaint said. “The town’s interest in covering up allegations of misconduct does not outweigh (Van Dam’s) interest in reporting what she perceived to be illegal conduct to outside agencies.”

A jury in U.S. District Court ruled that Van Dam’s reports to other law enforcement agencies were “a motivating factor in (the town’s) decision to terminate (Van Dam).”The jury also found that a Facebook post that was made by another person who Van Dam had spoken with was also a “motivating factor” in Van Dam’s firing.

The jury awarded Van Dam $325,175, but the town asked for a change in the damage award or a new trial, saying that she did not disclose the fact she had been hired as a police officer by another town in January of 2021, so her damages should be lower.

The town also argued that the calculations used to determine damages for Van Dam set the amount too high and that the damages should be limited to one year’s salary, $56,400.

However, Magistrate Judge Kelly Rankin ordered the parties to take part in mediation to settle the disputes.

“The court believes the parties should fully explore and consider settlement of these issues at the earliest opportunity,” Rankin wrote. “Early consideration can prevent unnecessary litigation of these issues.”

Although details are not included in the publicly available documents from the U.S. District Court, a notation was made that a settlement was reached on Aug. 17.

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