Former Elba Water employee sues the city, claiming false firing and arrest
ELBA, Ala (WDHN) — A former Elba Water Board employee is suing the city after claiming she was illegally terminated and then arrested on fake charges.
On Friday, May 3, Amy Giles Sewell filed a lawsuit against the city of Elba.
According to lawsuit, Sewell was fired from the city of Elba’s Water and Electric Board in May 2022 after not being given any cause or notice, breaching her employment contract with the city.
Sewell claims that after her firing, she was arrested on false charges of computer tampering.
Past WDHN reports show Sewell was arrested on May 4, the same day as her termination, after the Elba Police Department received a complaint that Sewell had accessed and misused someone’s personal information in late April.
Those initial charges were dropped, but three months later, Sewell was re-arrested on the same charges. However, in May 2023, those were also dismissed.
In her complaint, Sewell says her “unlawful” termination and two arrests have caused her significant public humiliation, shame, mental anguish, and tarnished her name.
She is suing the city on claims of breach of contract, invasion of privacy, interference with business relations, two counts of slander, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, false imprisonment, and indemnification.
Sewell is asking for a jury trial and to be awarded unspecified punitive and compensatory damages.
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