Fired Pontotoc County Clerks To Get Jury Trial

PONTOTOC, Miss. (AP) – A federal appeals court panel has ruled that two former Pontotoc deputy chancery clerks are entitled to a jury trial.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that Mildred Fitzpatrick, 51, and Martha J. Foster, 64, had argued they were fired by Pontotoc County Chancery Clerk Gary Moorman in 2012 because of their age. Moorman had said he fired all five of the deputy clerks because of a lack of loyalty.

When they filed an age discrimination lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Judge Michael Mills ruled for the county.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reversed that decision this week.

The panel says a jury, not a judge, should decide whether age is the real reason for the firing of Fitzpatrick and Foster.