20 Jan 2017

KTK Settles First Amendment Violation Case

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In a federal Section 1983 civil rights case, Mike Kuckelman and Mike Crabb represented a former Ford County, Kansas employee who was terminated and harassed as he was preparing to blow the whistle on wrongful government conduct.

Our client worked as a heavy equipment operator for Ford County from 2004 until his wrongful termination in 2013. His termination stemmed from a 2012 lawsuit in which Ford County landowners alleged that Ford County employees wrongfully entered their property and removed valuable personal property. When our client was called as a witness to the property removal, his employer threatened him with the loss of his farm if he didn’t participate in the cover-up or plead the Fifth during his deposition.

Then, on the morning of his deposition, our client was baselessly fired in order to intimidate him into silence. Ford County employees continued to harass him even after his termination because of his refusal to lie and mislead in his deposition answers.

In the end, Kuckelman and Crabb were able to obtain $100,000 for the blatant violation of our client’s First Amendment rights.