Bill Schack files lawsuit claiming his firing from Kearney Center was whistleblower retaliation
The former food director of the Kearney Center filed a lawsuit against Tallahassee’s main homeless shelter claiming he was fired in retaliation for reporting coronavirus protocol violations.
Bill Schack said he lost close to 200 paid time off hours and was retaliated against for reporting instances when the homeless shelter was not following COVID protocol. Schack’s September 5 lawsuit filed in Leon County Circuit Court claims he is a whistleblower under state statutes. He is being represented by attorney Marie Mattox.
Read the lawsuit: Full text of the complaint filed in Leon County Circuit Court
Background: Bill Schack fired from Kearney Center for 'breaking COVID protocol'
But when he was fired on July 21, 2021, Kearney Center officials said it was actually Schack who had violated COVID protocols by coming to work while he awaited his wife's test results for the infectious disease. They refuted claims made by Schack in a Facebook post following his termination.
In an interview with the Democrat at the time, Schack lamented the Kearney Center board's decision to fire a long-time employee over the phone for coming to work with "a minor cough" when the center was short-staffed.
More: Kearney Center homeless shelter lays off employees amid budget restraints
Kearney Center Board President Rick Kearney said the lawsuit had not been served yet. But he noted how the claims that appear in the lawsuit had already been addressed when Schack made them shortly after being fired.
Kearney declined to comment on the pending litigation.
"We have not had a chance to review the complaint with our legal counsel and therefore cannot comment on the allegations set forth in the lawsuit," he said in an email.
The Kearney Center, at 2650 Municipal Way, is the largest of Tallahassee's four shelters. The 24-hour facility provides food, case management and medical services to homeless men and women.
Schack worked there for six years before he was fired.
While he was at work on Sunday, July 18, Schack’s wife tested positive for COVID. The lawsuit says he left the same day and got tested. Schack mistakenly reported to his superiors that his wife tested positive on Saturday, not Sunday. His test returned positive.
Schack, who ran for local office in 2020 and is former chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus Leon County, was fired over the phone while he was ill with COVID, according to the seven-page lawsuit, and later spent a week in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
Just days after reporting the positive tests to his superiors, Schack was let go.
“(His) termination came a little over a week after he reported continued violation of COVID protocols within the Kearney Center,” Schack claimed in the lawsuit. “Plaintiff was terminated because he engaged in protective behavior.”
Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Bill Schack sues Kearney Center, says firing was retaliation
