Roanoke Sheriff Fired Afghanistan Veteran Back From Combat

Afghanistan veteran sues after Roanoke County sheriff's office fires her
Roanoke Times
By Carmen Forman
May 3, 2015

Pamela Huff guarded the Roanoke County courthouse for years, and now her wrongful termination lawsuit against the county sheriff’s office may have her as a plaintiff in one of the same courtrooms she protected.

The former bailiff is suing the Roanoke County Sheriff’s Office under its former head Mike Winston for her termination after she came back from serving in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army Reserve.

Her lawyer, Tommy Strelka, filed motions for sanctions and partial summary judgment April 22 that argue he can prove his client’s case without a trial.

Her case argues that she was terminated during a time when she was protected by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which is similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act, but for members of the armed services. Huff argues the sheriff’s office terminated her without a reasonable effort to accommodate her post-traumatic stress and major depressive disorders, according to court documents.

“She was just a changed person when she came back and she’ll admit to that,” Strelka said. “She was very bubbly and cheerful, and when she came back she had lost a lot of that.”

The case was originally heard in federal court, but U.S. District Judge Glen Conrad sent it back to Roanoke County Circuit Court, ruling that according to the 11th Amendment, a state entity like the sheriff’s office could not be sued in federal court.

Strelka said he thinks this is the first USERRA case to be heard in a Virginia state court. Cases regarding the federal law are normally heard in federal court, he said.

Huff was hired as a sheriff’s deputy in 2001 and was promoted to bailiff about five years later.
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