Columbia, SC (WLTX) - A former Richland County employee is speaking out after making claims she was fired for speaking up during the development of the Richland Penny Tax program.
"I certainly hope that those individuals are held accountable," says Justine Jones.
Jones, the former assistant director of the Office of Small Business Opportunities (OSBO) in Richland County, is opening up about what she claims is a wrongful termination.
In a 25-page lawsuit against Richland County, Jones claims that there was race, gender and disability discrimination against her, as well as whistle blower retaliation over a small business program within the Penny Tax Project.
"I saw that there were certain practices going on and I wasn't going to go along with that," says Jones.
Jones helped create the OSBO and was tasked with certifying businesses as they applied to be a part of the Penny Tax program. In order to get into the program, Jones says a business had to be small, local, and provide services that would help with road work.
"We had a few instances where there were businesses that clearly did not have any roadwork, construction, architecture, engineering capability that were applying to the program, with real expectations that they would be certified and put on a project," says Jones. "I could not, in good conscience, sign off on that."
According to the lawsuit, "Jones immediately established a reputation of doing things 'by the book' and quickly became shunned by some county council members and business people."
"As I rejected some of those applicants that came through, again I got the lash back from some of those council members who resented and felt that at that point I was a problem and I somehow impeded their effort to control the money and keep it kind of a free for all," says Jones. "I was not the one to go along with that and that was a problem for a number of people."
Jones was terminated on March 30, 2015 after she says she took too long to sign a memorandum of understanding from her supervisor, which spelled out issues that her supervisor had with Jones' work.
"It was a practice that had never been done in Richland County and has never been done since," says Jones
Jones is suing for back pay and lost benefits.
"This program that was promised to taxpayers and funded with taxpayer dollars is not going to the individuals who the program was designed for," says Jones. "Instead it's going to a number of other individuals who are engaging in some degree of activity that is questionable."
News 19 reached out to Richland County to comment about Jones' claims and they replied saying that they do not comment on pending litigation.
However, in a brief phone interview with Councilman Norman Jackson, he explained that Jones had come to him with her concerns. Jackson says he brought them before council, but nothing was done.
The lawsuit is still in the discovery phase, but should be heading to federal court soon.