A former DeKalb County Superior Court clerk has sued to get her job back, claiming she unknowingly signed a letter of resignation drawn up by the woman who replaced her.
On Thursday, Linda Carter filed documents in the same court in which she was once employed, alleging that she was wrongfully removed from office. Current court clerk Debra DeBerry and Gov. Nathan Deal were named as defendants.
In clearly a bizarre case, Carter said she signed a letter on March 24 that was presented to her as a routine business document without looking at it. She was urged to sign the letter by another deputy clerk, Lisa Oakley, who was acting on the direction of DeBerry, the suit alleged.
Carter also claimed in the suit that she was suffering from "a temporary episode of dementia" brought on by an unexplained medical condition, didn't exactly know what she was doing and DeBerry took advantage.
Carter's attorney, Lee Parks, said the woman routinely signed stacks of documents in her position, and that it wasn't unusual that she didn’t read each page before offering her signature.
“The staff gives her numerous documents a day,” Parks said. “Would you ever think that with a group of business documents, that your resignation letter would be included?”
County officials declined to comment on the pending litigation. The governor's office didn't immediately respond to an interview request.
Parks, who would not make Carter available for an interview, said she is fully capable of returning to work and fulfilling the two years remaining on her term.
The filing said Carter was informed at the end of the day that she no longer had a job, and was escorted out of the building by Oakley, who told Carter’s husband, John, that his wife had resigned.
Oakley, according to court documents, falsely told the husband that Chief Judge Michael Anthony Scott had ordered Linda Carter removed from office. Oakley also said she escorted Linda Carter to her husband's car because the sheriff's department had been ordered to forcibly remove the court clerk from her office.
The suit alleged that yet another deputy clerk, Rick Setser, called Carter's husband, John, and admitted that he and DeBerry had jointly created the letter to prevent Carter's medical condition from drawing media attention.
By giving up her job in this manner, the suit alleged, Carter has lost pension benefits, health benefits and wages, and suffered damage to her reputation.
The same day the letter was signed, it was delivered to Gov. Deal’s office, according to the filing. The governor’s office, with no reason to suspect the letter was not authentic, approved Carter’s resignation and appointed DeBerry, as outlined in the letter.
The suit argued the letter should be invalid because Carter did not intend to resign when she signed it. Further the appointment of DeBerry should not be recognized since Carter’s intent was to keep her job. The suit seeks reinstatement of Carter's elected position and restoration of all rights and privileges.
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