Former chief deputy Paula Townsend claims loss of job resulted in ‘black ball’

(Editor’s Note: Former Watauga County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Paula Townsend agreed to an interview concerning the lawsuit she filed last week against Sheriff Mark Shook. Both parties in the lawsuit have been offered the opportunity to be interviewed. To maintain a sense of fairness, readers should note that one party’s willingness to comment about a lawsuit and another’s unwillingness may not necessarily reflect the merits of either side’s case but represent individual viewpoints.)

By Jerry Sena

jtsena@wataugademocrat.com

Paula Townsend, fired last summer from her post as Watauga County’s chief deputy because, she says, she rebuffed the sexual advances of her boss, has been out of work since last July despite repeated attempts to find another job.

Shook has denied Townsend’s claims of sexual harassment which were detailed in a federal lawsuit filed last week.

Townsend, a 14-year veteran of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office who spent seven years as chief deputy to two sheriffs, claims she’s been “black-balled” and mostly unemployed since Sheriff Mark Shook fired her July 12.

Outside a handful of training stints with various law-enforcement agencies throughout the state, Townsend said she’s been unable to find another job.

Asked Friday if she’d been actively looking for another law enforcement position, Townsend said, “You’d better believe it. It has not been easy.”

Townsend refused to talk directly of the reasons Shook gave for her firing.

“Angela will have to answer that,” Townsend said, referring to her Winston-Salem-based attorney Angela Gray.

Calls to Gray’s office went unanswered Friday.

Shook and officials for Watauga County have said they’re restricted from discussing personnel matters.

A federal sexual harassment suit filed for Townsend in Statesville last Wednesday named Shook, Watauga County and an unnamed insurance carrier as defendants.

Townsend is asking for punitive damages and compensation for emotional pain, mental anguish, legal costs and wages lost from her $50,000-plus annual salary.

Interviewed in April, when word began to leak that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission might be ready to issue her a right to sue, Townsend told the Democrat she’d met with Shook for eight hours discussing her job with the sheriff’s office

Just before the long meeting, Townsend said, she was featured in a local  magazine. The magazine article listed Townsend’s accomplishments, including graduation from the FBI’s National Academy, and investigations of several high-profile  murder cases.

Townsend said the publicity, and her prominent portrayal in the media during a nationally reported child abduction case in Jan. 2005 – a photo of Townsend carrying one of the abducted children was published in USA Today –  contributed to the rift between her and Shook.

“Mark was threatened by me,” she said. “He told me he appreciated what I’d done there (at the sheriff’s office) and that if I’d resign he’d give me an outstanding recommendation.”

When she refused, Townsend said, she was fired. She laughed when asked if Shook might still recommend her for new employment.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said. “I think I’ve been blackballed.”

On Friday, Townsend spoke of the days since the long-rumored  lawsuit had become public record.

“[To say it’s been stressful] would be an understatement,” she said. “It’s been extremely stressful. I have, in recent weeks and months, received anonymous threats — so-called anonymous  threats. I’ve been intimidated. Let me think how I want to say it; it would have been a whole lot easier not to let this go to court. But that wouldn’t be fair.”

When asked what she meant by “fair,” Townsend said she means that other women she believes have been, and will be, harassed in the same manner she believes she has been.

Another lawsuit

Townsend’s attorney, Gray, said she is also representing another former Watauga County employee in a similar case she said will likely be filed by the end of the summer.

Patricia Shook, who is reportedly no relation to the sheriff, was fired last year from her job as the county’s chief telecommunications officer.

With nearly 20 years of service behind her, Shook was reportedly only two  months shy of retirement when she lost her job.

As with Townsend, county officials say they cannot discuss the reasons for Shook’s firing.

Last month, Gray said Shook had received notice from the EEOC of her right to sue.

Gray said she was looking at a draft of the complaint on her desk as she spoke, though no suit had been filed as of Monday morning.

Patricia Shook referred all questions to Gray.

Officials with the county have said little about Townsend’s allegations aside from denying their justification.

Political Motivations

Shook has declined comment, limiting his public response to reading a written  statement.

Questioned in April about the then-rumored lawsuit, Shook said he wished he could say more.

“It’s killing me to keep quiet about this,” he said,  “but my attorney has advised me not to make any comment.”

Faced with what was expected to be a tough challenge from fellow Republican Joe Moody in May’s primary election, Shook blamed political opponents within his own party for the charges.

“I’d ask the people to take notice of the timing of these charges, brought by the former campaign treasurer of my upcoming opponent,” Shook said before the primary.

He defeated Moody easily with 80 percent of the vote. With his opponent in November’s general election now a Democrat, L.D. Hagaman, Shook said he still believes politics are behind the lawsuit.

“This is a politically motivated and totally unfounded lawsuit,” Shook stated last week.

Townsend has denied any political motive in her action.

“This has nothing to do with politics,” she said.

In a prepared statement, the local Democratic party said: 

“The Watauga County Democratic Party wants to make it clear that if indeed there is political motivation behind the charges leveled against Sheriff Shook, it is not of our making.

“The drama and intrigue behind this matter are clear evidence of serious disputes within the local Republican Party, as can be evidenced by Sheriff Shook’s primary challenger.”

“The Watauga County Democratic Party has played no part whatsoever in the very personal charges leveled against Sheriff Shook by his former chief deputy, who is also a Republican, nor in the dissent within the local Republican Party.”

The Republican Party has not relased a similar statement.

Jury trial

Townsend also corrected an earlier report that she was fired in June.

“I was terminated July 12,” she said. “That day I made an appointment with an attorney,” to begin the process of submitting her case to the EEOC.

The complaint was filed July 28, according to court documents.

Townsend cites the timing of her original filing – 10 months before the May primary –  as evidence she had no political motive.

Townsend has asked that a jury decide the case, a request she said is motivated by her desire to have Shook’s alleged misdeeds opened to public scrutiny. But she will not rule out a settlement.

Settlements often include confidentiality clauses forbidding all parties in a suit from revealing its terms.

“I’m acting on the full expectation that it will go to trial,” she said. “My only wish is that the truth will prevail. It won’t be a pleasant experience for anyone—including myself.”

But, pressed further, Townsend appeared to suggest a trial is not the only option she’s willing to consider.

“If the county continues to deal with this in the way it has, in refusing to compensate me for what’s happened, I see no other choice (but to go to trial),” she said.

“This is not about the money,” she added. “It is about right and wrong and about believing this kind of behavior — by public officials or anybody else for that matter — should not be tolerated.”