A special judge in Marshall County has ruled in favor of Pulaski County officials in the case of an employee terminated in 2013.
Former Pleasant View Rest Home Superintendent Sandra Hurd sued then-commissioners Larry Brady, Tracey Shorter and Terry Young, as well as then-Auditor Shelia Garling and Pulaski County Attorney Kevin Tankersley for defamation, slander, libel and invasion of privacy in April of 2014 following her firing the previous summer.
The county home, which has since closed, received federal funding from the Residential Care Assistance Program (RCAP), which is administered by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. Payments are made for qualified residents of residential care facilities based on days they are actually present. For instance, if a resident is hospitalized overnight, the home does not get money.
Hurd was responsible for completing monthly RCAP reports. Court documents indicate that between August of 2012 and her termination in July of 2013 she always marked a resident present despite periodic departures. As a result the county had to reimburse more than $4,000 in RCAP payments.
Then-Commissioner Tracey Shorter learned of the matter during an exit interview with another former Pleasant View employee, according to the court documents. She investigated the matter herself and discovered the discrepancy.
Hurd maintained she was trained by her predecessor to complete the forms. Additionally her lawsuit against the commissioners contends she self-reported the error after discovering it.
During this time, court documents indicate the commissioners also received an invoice for a butchered cow for the county home, but the beef could not be located. Court documents indicate “Shorter developed a concern that Hurd had perhaps confiscated the beef.” Then-Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacy Mrak asked the Indiana State Police to investigate, and that claim was disproven. So was the allegation Hurd was responsible for a missing couch from the county home.
In a statement, Tankersley says Marshall Superior Judge Dean Colvin’s ruling in favor of the county means “Hurd was not able to produce any evidence of the alleged wrongdoings by any of the Defendants, and the Defendants were all entitled to a judgment in their favor based on the facts.”
Click Hurd v. Pulaski County Commissioners to read the full ruling.
