Last winter, the Legislature passed 2017 House Bill 1052, now SDCL 3-16-9, which prohibits firing or otherwise punishing public employees for reporting violations of law. This whistleblower law was one of our consolation prizes for the Legislature’s repeal of Initiated Measure 22, the Anti-Corruption Act.
Former Davison County veterans service officer Jessica Davidson says her county commission abruptly fired her on November 29 after she reported to federal offices that the state Department of Veterans Affairs was violating federal trademark guidelines by using Department of Defense insignia on commemorative coins it planned to give to World War 2 veterans:
Davidson said she sent emails to trademark offices to ensure she wasn’t breaking the law nor would face legal action for handing out the state coin.
One response, from the Air Force Branding and Trademark Licensing office, Davidson said, did not approve of the production or use of the coin and asked that they would not be distributed and the remaining coins be destroyed.
The following week, Davidson was pulled into an executive session with the Davison County Commission.
“What stuck out to me was Commissioner [Dennis] Kiner told me, ‘It’s not what you did. It’s how you did it,’ ” Davidson said of the multiple complaints she made.
[Commission chair Brenda] Bode read aloud to Davidson and the commissioners the letter written by [DVA Secretary Larry] Zimmerman, but Davidson was not able to get a copy, she said. The Daily Republic requested the letter via the Freedom of Information Act, but Zimmerman denied it, citing personnel laws.
The day following the executive session, Davidson was fired [Luke Hagen, “Terminated for Whistleblowing? Former Davison County VSO Considering Legal Action After Being Fired,” Mitchell Daily Republic, 2017.12.23].
Davidson tells Hagen she had previously butted heads with the Davison County Commission and the state DVA over errors and delays in veterans’ files processed by the state and over her chain of command.
Davidson’s attorney, Sioux Falls lawyer R. Shawn Tornow, is looking at SDCL 3-16-9 as grounds for legal action.
Davison County hired Army veteran Davidson in November 2014. The state DVA recognized her as Outreach Leader of the Year in 2015. Shortly after receiving that award, Davidson convinced the county to do more for local veterans by hiring a part-time assistant for the VSO.
GOED, DOE, DCI, now DVA—one must wonder if South Dakota’s entire Executive Branch is just a bunch of butt-covering screw-ups.
Her lawyer would be R. Shawn Tornow, not R. Scott Tornow.
Sorry about that! Thanks, Ror! (Where did I get “Scott”?)
The corruption in South Dakota marches on. When the state looses respect and honor for those who have served, we show we have reached he Orwellian state of affairs. All of these commissioners should resign.