Cuccinelli Sued By Former Assistant Attorney General for Wrongful Firing

 

GOP gubernatorial candidate and certifiable egomaniac/nutcase Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli has been sued in federal court by a former Assistant Attorney General who had worked in the AG's office for six years before being fired by Kookinelli because he "suspected" she might have been the author of an anonymous post that called Kookinelli an "egomaniac."  Worse yet, the anonymous poster said Kookinelli was "NEVER" in the office and that he was merely using the post of Attorney General for "self-promotion."  Note, it was apparently never proven that the fired Assistant Attorney Genaral had in fact been the author of the post.  Mere suspicion was what Kookinelli and his henchman cited to justify the firing.  With over 300 attorneys and staff in the AG's office, why did Kookinelli's suspicions focus on the fired staffer?   There were plenty of people who saw how Kookinelli was abusing his office.  Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

An ex-assistant attorney general in Ken Cuccinelli II’s office is suing her former boss, claiming he fired her inappropriately after she was suspected of posting unflattering comments about him on a Washington Post blog.

In a lawsuit filed late last week in federal district court in Virginia, Samantha Vanterpool claims that Cuccinelli fired her about a month after comments appeared online that called the attorney general and Virginia gubernatorial candidate an “egomaniac” who was “NEVER in the AG’s office and solely uses the position for self promotion.” The comments — posted anonymously by the user “bzbzsammy” — came in response to a May 2012 Washington Post blog about Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling’s criticism of Cuccinelli’s planned trip to Iowa.

Richard Patrick, Vanterpool’s lawyer, said officials in the attorney general’s office told Vanterpool as they moved to fire her that they suspected she had posted the comment as “bzbzsammy.” He said they also gave her a copy of the office’s media policy, which prohibits attorney general staffers from talking to reporters without permission.  

The suit — which names Cuccinelli and his former chief deputy Charles E. James Jr. as defendants — claims she was unfairly retaliated against for exercising her free speech rights and asks that she be reinstated and awarded damages and back pay.

Patrick declined to say whether Vanterpool — who worked for the attorney general’s office for about six years — had posted the comment. Since she was fired, Vanterpool, of Annandale, has not been able to get another job, he said. 

Cuccinelli of all people ought to know that "suspicion" does not equate to the legal standard required in a civil suit.  He ought to also know that one is innocent until proven guilty.  Do we really want a petty tyrant/egomaniac in the Governor's mansion - especially after Bob "Pay Me a Bribe" McDonnell?  The only good news for Cuccinelli is that he wasn't accused of sexual harassment.  Of course, if he were to engage in sexual harassment, the closeted Cuccinelli would probably have been harassing cute male Assistant Attorney Generals (Note: the staff in the AG's office includes a chief deputy attorney general, five deputy attorneys general and about 150 assistant attorneys general, 40 additional full-time lawyers appointed as special counsel to particular agencies, and 140 legal assistants, legal secretaries and other professional support staff).