LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Bullitt County will pay $650,000 to settle a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Sheriff's Deputy John Cottrell.
In the lawsuit, filed in 2017, Cottrell claimed he was fired by Sheriff David Greenwell after revealing that Greenwell was involved in criminal activity. Cottrell claims he was wrongfully terminated Oct. 5 while out on medical leave by Greenwell as retaliation for taking part in a criminal investigation against Greenwell.
Over the two years before the lawsuit was filed, Cottrell said he reported alleged mismanagement, waste, fraud, abuse of authority and illegal activity by Greenwell. The lawsuit did not provide details on the alleged criminal activity.
Greenwell was found not guilty of the charges, and Cottrell was fired for “absence from duty,” according to a termination letter obtained by WDRB News in 2016.
In a statement Tuesday, Cottrell's attorney said the settlement was "fair and equitable."
"Anytime you litigate against the Government or people that are in positions of power and authority it is an uphill battle," Garry Adams, Cottell's attorney, said in a written statement. "Following Mr. Cottrell’s wrongful termination in 2016, he exercised his rights under both the State and Federal Constitutions by filing a civil suit to expose violations of law that he encountered in his position as Chief Deputy of the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office and to prove that he was retaliated against for upholding the very law he swore to protect. After exercising those rights and bringing that civil suit, Mr. Cottrell was then charged with crimes that he did not commit. It has taken a long six years to both prove his innocence, get the criminal charges dismissed and then to prosecute his civil claims to the eve of trial."
After he was fired, Cottrell asked for a required wrongful termination hearing but was refused, the lawsuit claimed. According to the lawsuit, Cottrell heard he was terminated “because he was being investigated for using his taser on his girlfriend.”
Bullitt County has not said where the $650,000 will come from. The lawsuit was against Greenwell, Bullitt Fiscal Court and the Kentucky Association of Counties.
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