Jackson Free Press

Andre Cooley says he lost his job because he is gay. Cooley served as a juvenile corrections officer with the Forrest County Sheriff's Department from November 2009 until June 15 of this year. On Monday, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on Cooley's behalf against the sheriff's department, Sheriff Billy McGee and two other department officials.

On June 14, Cooley called 911 from his home when his boyfriend became physically violent. Cooley, 25, was off-duty and not wearing his uniform when officers arrived. The lawsuit alleges that the police report from the incident lists Cooley as the victim of domestic violence, but the department first suspended, then fired him without filing charges against him or providing a written explanation of the reason for his firing.

Cooley's lawsuit states that the department fired him for being gay. Cooley had not publicly disclosed his sexual orientation or his relationship to the department. When Chief of Corrections Charles Bolton, one of the officers responding to Cooley's 911 call, discovered that Cooley was in a same-sex relationship, he told Cooley to contact his supervisor before returning to work, the lawsuit alleges.

Cooley's immediate supervisor initially told him that he would be suspended because of pending domestic violence charges. The department never filed charges, however, and, according to the suit, Staff Sergeant Donnell Brannon told Cooley June 15 that he was being fired for "the type of situation" in which he had been involved. Cooley alleges that he then asked if that meant he was being fired because he was gay and that Brannon replied, "Yes."

At the time of his firing, Cooley had no negative evaluations on his record. Roughly two months after his hiring, he received a promotion, from junior to senior correctional officer. A native of Ypsilanti, Mich., Cooley grew up in the foster-care system. He graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor's degree in administration of justice in 2009.

After firing him, sheriff's department contested Cooley's application for unemployment benefits with the Mississippi Department of Employee Security. MDES initially turned him down, based on the sheriff's department's contention that he had "displayed inappropriate conduct and behavior while off duty, unacceptable for an officer."

After an Aug. 25 hearing with an MDES administrative law judge, however, the department reversed its decision, finding that MDES "has not provided substantial evidence that (Cooley) was involved in misconduct of any sort."

Sheriff Billy McGee is out of town for the week, according to his office. A call to Chief of Corrections Charles Bolton was not immediately returned.

In comments to the Hattiesburg American on Monday, McGee confirmed that the department had not filed charges against Cooley but reiterated his support for Cooley's firing, adding: "Those kinds of incidents don't speak well for people in law enforcement."

Cooley told the Jackson Free Press that he has been unable to find work since being fired. The loss of the corrections position is especially painful, he says. Having grown up in foster care, he valued the opportunity to help young people in the county's juvenile detention center.

"Becoming a correctional officer gave me an opportunity to give back," Cooley said. "That's really my lifetime goal. ... Just to have somebody there that listens to you and cares about your well being really makes a difference," Cooley said.

Cooley said that he hopes his lawsuit will draw greater attention to workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

"I really want the public to be aware that these things happen and shouldn't be tolerated," Cooley said. "It's really important that some policies be enacted so that this thing doesn't happen in the future."