On Aug. 1, David F. Ligon III filed a complaint in Goochland County Circuit Court that alleges he was unfairly fired from his job in retaliation for talking to county officials about his concerns that his then supervisor Cecile H. Youngblood, Superintendent of Building and Grounds for the County of Goochland, was misusing county resources.

Ligon is now seeking a total of $850,000 in compensatory damages and $750,000 in punitive damages from the County of Goochland and Youngblood.

Ligon worked for the county since August of 2007 and claims that on Feb. 22 he spoke with Goochland Commonwealth Attorney Claiborne Stokes, who referred him to the Goochland Sheriff’s Department. On Feb. 25, Ligon met with Investigator Jimmy Mann, who said that the department would investigate the matter further.

After Mann met with Youngblood on Mar. 10, Ligon was called into his supervisor’s office, where, according to the suit, Youngblood “yelled at him in a very aggressive manner and said that he had just spent 45 minutes being interviewed by the investigator (Mann) and was reading some document that Ligon had given Mann and told Ligon he had some nerve doing that.”

Youngblood then gave Ligon a work memo referencing the employee’s alleged job search, his attitude toward his fellow employees, and county regulations banning employees from carrying weapons at work. Ligon’s suit claims that the charges in the memo were false and were “designed to intimidate and harass Ligon.”

On Mar. 11, Youngblood received a letter, signed by Youngblood, informing him that he was being fired “due to unsatisfactory job performance which includes disruptive behavior and insubordination.”

When asked about the suit, Goochland County Attorney Andrew McRoberts said, “There are substantial defenses to this action, and it will be defended vigorously.”

The lawsuit alleges that Youngblood repeatedly asked county employees to work on his personal property, including replacing the brake pads on his Chevy Suburban, and that county-owned property such as lawn trimmers, blowers, pole saws and combo tools are currently in Youngblood’s possession.

The suit also claims that Youngblood allowed county employee Larry Hicks to work on his own equipment on county time and property, including replacing rotten wood and shingles at his home. Three county employees, including Ligon, were then allegedly ordered by Youngblood to pick up the roof debris and carry it to the local dump, on county time using a county-owned vehicle.

In regard to Ligon’s allegations against Youngblood, Sheriff James L. Agnew said, “We investigated criminal activity in this particular instance, and found nothing to substantiate it. And so we ended our investigation.”

When asked about the suit, Ligon’s attorney, James B. Thorsen of Richmond, said, “The complaint will speak for us.”