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Court denies Lee County’s appeal in wrongful termination suit

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FORT MYERS, Fla. Lee County was stymied Thursday in its attempt to appeal a decision against it in a wrongful termination suit.

An 11th Circuit Court of Appeals judge denied the county’s attempt to overturn a jury’s decision regarding three employees who were fired amid an economic incentives deal gone wrong.

Eileen Schuman, Susan Noe and John Brock lost their jobs for their involvement in a county audit with VR Labs Inc., a startup energy drink manufacturer that promised to bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to Lee County.

The company received $5 million to create over 200 jobs and move its headquarters and to the county, but that promise was never fulfilled.

The three employees stated in their lawsuit that the county didn’t properly investigate VR Labs after Glen Salyer was hired to oversee the Lee County Economic Development office.
Salyer fired the trio, claiming their terminations were part of a cost-saving reorganization of the office.

The three eventually sued and won the case.

“The evidence was more than sufficient to support the jury’s verdict on each claim,” the court said. “The sufficiency of evidence issue is not close.”

Lisa Wagner, another fired economic development office employee, brought a separate wrongful termination suit against the county. A settlement conference is set for next week in her case, with a trial scheduled for early next year.


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