I-TEAM: Federal lawsuit filed against Burke County Sheriff’s Office
WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Burke County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Alfonzo Williams are once again in the spotlight.
This time, for a federal lawsuit filed by one of his former employees.
This comes after an Equal Employment Opportunity, or EEOC, complaint was dismissed.
We’ve dug deeper into the allegations being made against Sheriff Alfonzo Williams and heard from that former employee.
Filed on December 19, 2024, a 33-page lawsuit filed by former Burke County Sheriff’s Office employee Brenda Johnson holds serious allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation against Sheriff Williams.
WARNING: LAWSUIT CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE
The I-TEAM sat down with Johnson.
“I’m disgusted. I am disgusted, I am upset, I am,” Johnson said as she detailed her time working under Williams.
The lawsuit was filed after her EEOC complaint was closed.
The EEOC says they would not pursue further investigation and makes no determination if further investigation would establish a violation.
It does not mean the claims have no merit. This now allows Johnson to sue individually.
According to Johnson’s lawsuit, her complaints about the sheriff started in 2018 and include highly offensive sexual advances towards her, including three alleged instances.
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Johnson claims Williams also sent her sexually offensive text messages and pictures.
Will: “You guys were never together?”
Johnson: “No, sir. Never.”
She claims the sheriff terminated her because she failed to give in to his sexual advances.
Johnson claims she was given several different jobs at the sheriff’s office – some she claims she wasn’t qualified for.
“He just kind of what moved me. Anytime he would get upset, anytime things wouldn’t go his way,” said Johnson.
“Any time I wouldn’t take him up on any advances, which was never. I would be just moved all over throughout the building. It was very noticeable because it would happen all the time, every so often, every year. My job title would change every time a sheriff got mad,” she said.
Johnson later describes how she met with her business partner, Rashad Smith, in the parking lot at the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.
She claims the sheriff drove by, got Smith’s license plate number, and ran it through GCIC – or Georgia’s Crime Information Center.
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Johnson claims the sheriff later texted her that he would tell Johnson’s husband about her and Smith.
Included in the lawsuit is a screenshot of a computer, which appears to show Smith’s plates were run through GCIC at 3:16 p.m.
The lawsuit says text messages between Johnson and the sheriff show he later texted her at 4:28 p.m. about Smith.
Further down in the lawsuit is another serious allegation. Johnson claims the sheriff had a GPS tracker on her car.
“He point blank said to me as I’m walking in, ‘I had a GPS on your vehicle,’” said Johnson.
Johnson sent the I-TEAM a video from the sheriff’s office.
It shows Sheriff Williams parking and walking inside. A few minutes later he comes out of the building.
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Johnson claims he moved his truck in front of her car to block the cameras, where he removed the GPS tracking device.
But in the video, it’s unclear what the sheriff is doing.
“Me and my family had to suffer due to all of this. I mean, it’s just heartbreaking. I’m disgusted by it all. I am. And I’m not the only one, but I’m the only one that’s going to come forward,” said Johnson.
Again, the EEOC Charge was dismissed against the sheriff and the county.
The EEOC’s determination letter says, “It’s not likely that further investigation would yield evidence sufficient to show that a violation occurred.”
Their determination is that no further action is warranted by them.
This allowed Johnson to individually file in federal court.
We have reached out to the county attorney but have not heard back yet.
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