(Houston) -- A former Brazoria County Sheriff's deputy has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, saying he was illegally fired and then slandered. He says it means no other department will allow him to wear a badge.
Mark Wiggins was a 13-year veteran when he claims he was forced out of his job on August 12, 2009 by Sheriff Charles Wagner. He claims he was set up in an internal affairs sting in retaliation for filing Workers Compensation claims that were valid.
"Plaintiff now seeks to reclaim his professional reputation and to make the Defendant account for the damages Defendant has caused him," Wiggins attorneys wrote in their federal court complaint filed Monday.
His lawsuit accuses the Brazoria County Sheriff's department of concocting a pre-text for firing him and giving him a dishonorable discharge.
He filed 2 different Workers Compensation claims for injuries on duty, and he says both were justified.
The most recent claim was filed just 3-days before he was fired.
The first was in October 2008 after he says he was attacked by a bull on the job. The second claim for an on the job injury was filed in August 2009 from injuries he claimed while making an arrest after a disturbance call.
- The undercover sting
On August 9, 2009, Deputy Wiggins asserts that he was arriving at the sheriff's office to seek medical treatment through his Workers Comp insurance.
He was dispatched to assist a West Columbia Police officer with an intoxicated person on the San Bernard Bridge.
His lawyer writes in her complaint, "Unknown to the (Wiggins) at the time, this call was an invitation to a trap set by the Brazoria County Sheriff's Department so that it could have a pre-text for firing (him)."
When Wiggins arrived at the bridge, he removed a suspect from behind the wheel of a car.
The person could not be arrested for drunken driving, Wiggins claims, because he did not actually see the suspect driving the car. He says no other officers or witnesses at the scene had seen the person driving either.
For that reason, Wiggins said he performed his duty properly by concluding the person should be arrested for misdemeanor Public Intoxication instead of the more serious drunken driving charge.
The department charged him with 4 violations of departmental rules, according to the lawsuit:
- Knowingly making a false entry on a police record
- Failing to comply with a superior's order
- Failing to take appropriate action in response to a crime
- Submitting a false statement during an internal affairs investigation.
Wiggins' attorney writes in her lawsuit that, "None of the allegations was true."
A Texas Workforce Commission Tribunal found that Wiggins has not engaged in misconduct, and therefore awarded unemployment benefits despite the Brazoria County Sheriff's office trying to keep those benefits from him, according to the lawsuit.
Sheriff Wagner declined to comment, referring questions to the Brazoria County District Attorney's office, which did not return a call for comment.
In addition to wrongful termination and violation of civil rights, Wiggins claims his professional reputation continues to suffer. He also claims, "emotional harm of having had lies told about him and having had the lies memorialized in print in a dishonorable discharge," according to his lawsuit.
The suit asks for money and an order to rescind the dishonorable discharge.
The sheriff and the district attorney's office said they had not yet been served with the lawsuit. Federal district clerk records show the judge has set a telephone conference for April 20, 2011 to schedule future deadlines in the case.
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