Eight Clayton County Sheriff’s Office employees were suspended, demoted and eventually fired over an unapproved food giveaway to the needy at the jail, Channel 2 Action News reported.
They told Channel 2 they were fired because Sheriff Victor Hill was embarrassed by the food co-op and angry he wasn’t told about it before it happened.
“We’re in trouble for helping people,” Norris Moss said.
He is among the jail workers now looking for a new job, and he said his former boss claimed they were soliciting. He was one of three former jail corrections officers who told Channel 2 that the food was being distributed to those in need.
The group began the donation effort about two years ago, where they paid $150 a month to get food from the Georgia Food and Resource Center, they told Channel 2. They said they took the food home, gave it away to several churches and would hand it over to other jail workers to give away.
“It’s food, and I thought that I was doing a good thing,” Gloria Mayo said.
After someone spotted them distributing the food in the jail’s parking lot, an investigator reached out to tell them they’d been suspended without pay.
“He said, ‘I’m putting you on administrative leave without pay for participating in the food co-op,’” Triana Collier said.
Channel 2 reached out for more information about the incident, but the sheriff’s office has not responded.
The group told the news station that it’s tough to get another job in law enforcement once you’ve been fired.
“A lot of agencies won’t touch you after you’ve been terminated,” Collier said.
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