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Try CasePortal for FreeJ. Flanagan denies a former county sheriff’s motion to dismiss allegations of race discrimination brought by a former captain of the county’s detention center after the sheriff demoted her then fired her shortly after he was elected to office. The captain, the only Black woman on staff at the time, worked in the office since 1998, had several promotions since, and allegedly had an excellent performance record. Within a month of his placement, the sheriff, a white man, demoted the captain and replaced her with a less-qualified white woman. He also demoted another Black employee, and on a phone call with a white staff member, was recorded saying, “I’m sick of these Black bastards. I’m gonna clean house and be done with it,” along with other derogatory remarks. When the sheriff fired the captain not long after, he cited an incident when she had forgotten to pay for some bags of pecans at a store, then returned to pay for them, characterizing this as behavior as “unbecoming.” The state filed a removal petition against the sheriff based on the race discrimination claims, at which time he resigned. He was elected again, and again he demoted Black staff members. The state filed a removal petition a second time, and again he resigned. The captain has sufficiently evidenced a claim for race discrimination.