Hearne v. Sherman

LAKE, Justice.

This employment termination case comes to this Court as a result of a dissent in an unpublished decision in the Court of Appeals. The evidence in the record reflects that petitioner Walter Lee Hearne served as an “Animal Control Officer II” with the Chatham County Health Department until January 1995. Petitioner’s employment ended when respondent Wayne Sherman, director of the Chatham County Health Department, sought petitioner’s resignation as a result of adverse publicity arising out of allegations that petitioner euthanized a litter of puppies in an unauthorized manner.

The…