St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith voiced his satisfaction after the Court of Appeal upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of the agency regarding a lawsuit filed by a former employee.
Calvin Lewis, a former captain with the agency, was terminated in May 2017 following an internal affairs investigation which confirmed he had violated agency policy.
In May 2018, Lewis filed suit against Sheriff Smith and the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office for wrongful termination. The Court of Appeal upheld the August 2019 ruling made by U.S. District Judge Barry Ashen, that Sheriff Smith’s decision to terminate Lewis was a lawful exercise of his discretion to make personnel decisions that uphold the integrity of his agency.
Sheriff Smith said Mr. Lewis was knowingly in violation of St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office policy, and he was lawfully terminated.
