Was gay chief fired for poor performance or retaliation?
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two years after a small South Carolina police chief was fired because she was gay, the same chief said her hometown fired her again in retaliation for having an outside agency investigate a sexual harassment complaint.
Latta Town Administrator Jarrett Taylor saved Crystal Moore’s job the first time. But he said he fired her Friday not to get revenge, but because she couldn’t solve growing problems with bad morale, poor decisions and administrative tasks that weren’t done on time.
When Moore was first fired in 2014, Latta rallied around her, stripped power from the mayor and cheered when Taylor and other Town Council members hired her back. This time, the dispute seems destined for a courtroom, even as Moore runs for a different job — Dillon County sheriff.
Moore’s lawyer said the problems only started Aug. 12, when a woman reported she was being sexually harassed by a male Latta employee.