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Georgia Lawmaker Suing County for Firing Her After She Was Found Allegedly Passed Out Drunk
Published
8 months agoon
In a story some would file in the only in America file, a Georgia lawmaker is suing the county that fired her after she was reportedly found passed out drunk in the street.
The lawmaker, Felicia Franklin, announced her wrongful termination suit after county officials recorded a unanimous vote to dismiss her.
The decision to dismiss followed a September police report and body cam video showing the former Board of Commissioners vice chair apparently drunk and passed out in the street.
The incident, previously reported by the Daily Mail, allegedly was “traumatic” for Franklin, who is now running for the seat of County Chairman.
In her wrongful termination suit, Franklin claims the incident resulted from her being “drugged with a ‘date rape’ drug” in the 404 Sports Bar and Grill in Morrow, Georgia.
The drug reportedly left her distraught, disoriented and crying in the street, where she was found by police.
In response to the claims in the suit, Sgt. Scott Stewart of the Morrow Police Department said, “We have found no evidence to support that she was in fact drugged with GHB.”
Stewart told Fox News 5: “She had probably three and a half, four drinks, then a swig of beer.”
Police officials note that bar surveillance video shows that Franklin had three “home run” drinks, which contain 40-proof Hennessy and Grand Marnier, followed by a glass of wine and a swig of someone else’s beer.” Video from the bar does not indicate anyone tampered with Franklin’s drinks.
Body cam video shows officers lifting an unconscious Franklin onto a medical gurney when suddenly she awoke and “started screaming, crying and cursing out the first responders,” according to the New York Post.
The encounter included Franklin striking an EMT in an ambulance and yelling at the first responder to “get the f— out of my face.”
When an officer told her, “Ma’am, you’re about to go to jail,” Franklin shouted, “I don’t give a f—, get him out of my face.”
The tirade included Franklin crying, “Don’t leave me, don’t leave me” and calling out for her mother.
Franklin initially claimed she had not had much to drink. However, video of a police interrogation surfaced later showing that officers confronted her with receipts proving she had more drinks than she claimed.
“I didn’t have five drinks … I had five drinks? I don’t remember having five drinks,” she said, then suggested the other drinks listed were for other people.
Medical officials said they could not find any evidence of a date-rape drug in her system, though a toxicology report identified the presence of cannabis.
Contradicting medical reports, Franklin posted on Facebook: “It is believed by medical professionals that I was drugged with a GHB pill, more commonly known as the ‘date rape pill,’ and this incident has shaken me to my core.”
Franklin added: “I will be working closely with authorities to ensure that justice is served, and I will also be advocating for improved safety measures at events like these.”
However, when county officials reviewed the police report and video, they voted to dismiss Franklin. “The video spoke for itself. What more can we say?” Chairman Jeff Turner told WSB-TV.
Turner added: “We represent the citizens of Clayton County and we have to make sure we present ourselves in a way that our citizens are going to be proud of us.”
