A three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals has upheld a Fayette judge’s ruling ordering the city of Lexington to reinstate and pay back wages to a jail employee who was fired in 2017 after he accepted a plea deal on three misdemeanor counts of unlawful transactions with a minor.
The Court of Appeals decision, released Friday, upheld Fayette Circuit Court Judge John Reynold’s November 2019 decision that ordered former Sgt. John Thomas Lowe’s reinstatement at the Fayette County Detention Center and awarded $334,721 in back pay and benefits to compensate him for three years of unpaid administrative leave from his job before his 2017 termination.
Scott Crosbie, a lawyer for Lowe, said the amount Lowe is now owed is much higher.
“We have not made additional calculations of additional back pay, benefits and statutory interest since the appeal was filed, but I suspect the balance is now around $425,000 owed,” Crosbie said. “Sgt. Lowe and the FOP are obviously pleased with today’s outcome.”
The city can appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
From www.kentucky.com