Suspended Sheriff Lyde racks up victory in federal lawsuit

About to go on trial for criminal charges Monday, temporarily suspended Clay County Sheriff Jeffrey Lyde has won a victory in another court arena.

Jury selection begins Monday in the Montague County Courthouse for allegations Lyde held a couple in jail illegally and tampered with court documents in the process in July 2021. He faces four misdemeanor charges in connection with the allegations.

This is one of many legal battlefields Lyde and his host of attorneys have been fighting in.

They include a petition to remove him permanently from elected office in 97th District Court, other misdemeanor criminal charges associated with sexual harassment allegations and federal lawsuits filed by the couple and by former county employees.

Lyde’s suspension is in effect until the lawsuit seeking to oust him from office has run its course. A jury trial to determine his fate regarding the petition is anticipated.

Among all those warfronts, Lyde can count at least one decisive victory, courtesy of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

This development is perhaps not widely known outside of Clay County, but the suspended sheriff brought it to the attention of the Times Record News recently.

Earlier this year, the New Orleans appeals court sided with Lyde and against a former Sheriff’s Office employee who he fired, upholding a judgement from a Wichita Falls federal district court.

A federal lawsuit was filed in April 2021 by Linda Byrd, a former dispatcher and supervisor, and two others, Gary Tatum, a county contract jailer, and Tyler Aylor, a detention officer. They were sacked after Lyde was elected in 2020.

All three sued Clay County, claiming Lyde wrongfully fired them from the Sheriff’s Office in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Frank Douthitt, a Clay County attorney and former district judge, steps out of the 97th District Courtroom in the Montague County Courthouse on Feb. 23, 2023, for a quick talk. Douthitt is one of the petitioners seeking to remove Sheriff Jeffrey Lyde from elected office.

It is of note that Tatum and Aylor later settled with the county and exited the lawsuit. That left Byrd still seeking a jury trial and the award of lost benefits and wages, other monetary losses, attorneys’ fees and more.

After being elected Nov. 3, 2020, Lyde reviewed Sheriff’s Office personnel and decided to replace may of his supervisors, including Byrd, according to the Fifth Circuit opinion issued earlier this year.

Byrd and Tatum were dismissed from county employment in individual emails Lyde sent Nov. 16, 2020, informing them they were let go as of Nov. 30, 2020, when he was taking office, according to the Fifth Circuit opinion issued April 27.

Clay County Sheriff Jeffrey Lyde gives a weekly update to residents Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, after a judge scuttled a temporary restraining order against him.

Tatum and Byrd claimed they were fired in November 2020 while on leave under the FMLA, according to the lawsuit. Aylor applied for FMLA leave Jan. 4, 2021, and he was fired an hour after turning in his application.

More: Change of venue agreed on for two criminal cases against suspended Sheriff Lyde

Byrd received a dismissal email at 10:57 a.m. Nov. 16, 2020, but she contended she never saw it, according to the Fifth Circuit opinion. In any case, the same day she received the email, she asked the county about applying for FMLA leave.

A county employee not in the Sheriff’s Office granted her Nov. 25, 2020, official request for leave. Her leave ended in January 2021, and she was not reinstated.

Byrd sued the county federal district court, contending the FMLA required the county to reinstate her and offer her employment after her leave ended.

But the New Orleans appeals court found that since Byrd would not have continued working for the county in the absence of FMLA leave, she can’t make any claims centered on the county not reinstating her.

The appeals court’s opinion was line with a July 12, 2022, order from U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to grant Clay County’s request for a summary judgment.

More: Couple files federal lawsuit against suspended Sheriff Lyde, Clay County

O’Connor found that Byrd’s claims did not hold legal water.

The judge wrote in his order that she was denied reinstatement not because of anything to do with the FMLA — but solely because of “her incompatible managerial style according to Sheriff Lyde’s standards.”

O’Connor’s order effectively disposed of the lawsuit at the federal district court level. Then Byrd moved on to unsuccessfully appeal Connor’s decision in New Orleans.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Suspended Sheriff Lyde wins victory in lawsuit