Water Worker Fired after Giving Audit to Newspaper

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — North Lee County Water Association’s outside maintenance supervisor has been fired for what he says is retaliation for sharing a public document with a newspaper.

North Lee employee Sonny Noble, 31, tells the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal he was fired for providing a copy of the association’s 2013 audit to the newspaper, which published results Friday.

Noble says two board members fired him, claiming he missed work time.

The audit shows the association isn’t filing reports required to comply with terms of a $1.2 million federal loan, has record-keeping problems, and can’t account for about $14,000.

The association declined to give a copy of the audit to the newspaper, saying it would only share it with the system’s customers. Federal regulations require North Lee to make the audit public.