Former Colleton Co. deputy receives payout after suing for wrongful termination

COLLETON COUNTY S.C. (WCSC) - A former Colleton county deputy received a payout from the state, after accusing the sheriff of firing her, because she didn’t support him during his re-election campaign.

In the lawsuit, Lesley Jamison of the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office, sued the county and Sheriff R.A. Strickland, for wrongful termination. She got $30,000 in damages and the fund paid $34,379.61 in attorneys fees to the county. That money came from the South Carolina Insurance Reserve Fund.

Based on the lawsuit, Jamison, who served in the rank of major with the sheriff’s office, says she was intentionally left out of meetings, had her duties at work assigned to others, and eventually fired. And she says it’s all because Strickland felt she didn’t do enough to help him get re-elected in 2016 with voters in the African American community.

She had worked for the CCSO since 2012. Jamison is African American, and in the lawsuit, she says "Strickland's criticism indicated that he had expected Plaintiff to turn out the African American votes as the only African American commanding officer in the department."

She was fired in January 2017, and filed the wrongful termination lawsuit in August of that same year.

Strickland responded to the matter in the following written statement:

“I stand behind my decision pertaining to this particular case. Agreeance to settle does not entail fault by either persons, this was a decision that was best for the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office and our employees. As Sheriff of Colleton County I will continue to provide due diligence to our employees, and to the citizens of Colleton County.”