Four Nye County Sheriff’s supervisors claim retaliation in lawsuit against bosses, county

Nye County Sheriff’s Office supervisors Lt. Adam Tippetts, Sgt. Corey Fowles and deputies Michael Cleveland and Allen Lynn are claiming in a class-action lawsuit that they faced retaliation under Sheriff Sharon Wehrly and Capt. David Boruchowitz, after voicing support for the sheriff’s political rival in this year’s election.

Both Wehrly and Boruchowitz, as well as Nye County at-large are named in the lawsuit that was filed on befalf of the NCSO supervisors last week in U.S. District Court by Las Vegas Attorney Brent Huntley.

The lawsuit outlines complaints by the four supervisors, who stated that they went through internal investigations, reassignments and demotions after their support for Joe McGill became known to Wehrly, according to court documents.

The backstory

The lawsuit was filed roughly a month after a dispute over a “Pahrump Politics” Facebook page which became public when the sheriff’s office asked Nye County District Attorney Chris Arabia to prosecute Tippetts and Fowles for operating it.

Arabia declined to prosecute and criticized the sheriff’s office for the time it spent on the case.

Arabia cited a nine-page investigation summary compiled about the Facebook page, comparing it to the one or two-page reports he says he routinely sees from the sheriff’s office on more serious sexual assault cases.

Multiple claims by the supervisors

The 29-page lawsuit alleges Wehrly and others denied the supervisors’ constitutional rights to freedom of association and freedom of speech.

In total, 10 claims in the lawsuit allege activities ranging from retaliation and conspiracy to emotional distress and defamation.

Wehrly told Las Vegas’ 8 News Now that the lawsuit contains baseless allegations by disgruntled employees and it involved personnel matters and pending litigation.

“There is not much we can comment on,” she said.

The dispute over the “Pahrump Politics” page is highlighted in the lawsuit, which details allegations involving each of the supervisors.

The lawsuit details allegations about the performance of Tippetts, Fowles, Cleveland and Lynn, and even the physical appearance of at least one of the plaintiffs.

On Oct. 27, Fowles was written up for “wrinkled pants,” which according to the complaint, “is not something anyone else has or would be written up for and is unprecedented during Fowles’ time as an employee of the county.”

Lynn is described in the lawsuit as one of the department’s most respected leaders.

His support of McGill came after speculation that Lynn himself might oppose Wehrly in the election.

My way or the highway

After Facebook comments supporting McGill, Lynn and others, including Tippetts, were told by Capt. Boruchowitz that “they should not expect leniency from Wehrly when they were supporting another candidate.”

At the end of May, Lynn learned that Wehrly was planning to fire him or make him take a demotion, according to the lawsuit.

A series of suspensions — 10 hours, then 20 hours, and then a third for 30 hours — followed internal investigations from January through the end of May.

At one point, Lynn was facing termination in a situation that he blames on Boruchowitz, who was advising him in Boruchowitz’s capacity as the president of the supervisors’ union.

Questionable alleged actions

The lawsuit says Nevada law specifically forbids that because Boruchowitz is Lynn’s direct supervisor.

Additionally, more internal investigations followed on procedural issues, which the lawsuit describes as minor; particularly in light of Lynn’s workload at the time.

Lynn was eventually demoted, while George Wehrly, the sheriff’s son, was named acting lieutenant in Lynn’s place.

The lawsuit stated that Lynn had failed to discipline Wehrly for an unspecified problem.

“It defies logic that Lynn would be demoted for not disciplining George Wehrly’s mistakes but George Wehrly would get promoted despite those mistakes,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also described a series of internal investigations directed at Tippetts earlier this year after he criticized Sheriff Wehrly.

Some of the investigations were procedural, and the lawsuit claimed others in similar situations weren’t subject to the same treatment.

Claims of poor performance

Tippetts, according to the lawsuit, was reassigned after a poor performance review.

“Tippetts was forced to begin using sick leave at the recommendation of his doctor to avoid the hostile work environment permitted by Wehrly and the county. He has incurred a significant financial loss in using this sick leave,” the lawsuit states.

Alleged threats leveled

More internal investigations followed, and Tippetts was threatened with a layoff after he and Fowles formed a political action committee (PAC) to support McGill in September.

As a result, Tippetts was given a choice between being laid off and taking a lieutenant’s job that would require him to relocate.

That was being occupied at the time by George Wehrly.

When Tippetts agreed to relocate, the layoff was rescinded.

Cleveland, a sergeant at the detention center, said he was subjected to retaliation after Sheriff Wehrly learned that he was supporting McGill.

According to the lawsuit, “Cleveland received unfair treatment, which followed a need for restricted duty after an injury led to additional problems with his daily assignments.”

Awaiting a response

On Tuesday, Huntley, the attorney for the NCOS supervisors, told the Pahrump Valley Times that his office is awaiting a response from the county regarding the case.

“The lawsuit was filed last week and is pending service,” he said. “Anybody can download a copy of it but you must personally serve the defendants, so you have to get a process server, and they go out and serve the defendants, and it’s up to the process server on how quickly they can get it done. It’s really too early to tell whether the county will settle the matter or proceed on to trial.”

Seeking damages

The lawsuit noted that the statements made by Wehrly are of such a nature that damages in the amount of $15,000 are presumed because they are the type that would tend to injure the plaintiffs in their occupation or alleged criminal conduct.

“Wehrly made these false and defamatory statements, with at least negligence as to their falseness,” Huntley said. “The $15,000 is just a statutory statement, so damages will be discovered throughout the case.”

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes