March 18, 2025
By: Dwayne Page
A motion to dismiss!
Attorneys for the town of Alexandria and Mayor Beth Tripp have filed a motion in federal court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a former employee claiming she was wrongfully terminated.
Patricia Houser, a former town recorder, court clerk, tax collector, and backup water clerk, is suing the City of Alexandria and Mayor Tripp in her individual and official capacities for deprivation of due process under the 14th amendment and for slander, defamation, and defamation by implication, in violation of state law.
In the motion to dismiss filed Monday, March 17 an attorney for the town and mayor, A. Ryan Simmons of the Brentwood law firm of Farrar/Bates/Berexa stated several reasons why the complaint should be dropped. In support of the motion, Simmons claims that Plaintiff (Houser) has failed to state any viable claims against the Defendants (town and mayor); has failed to establish that she was deprived of any Constitutional right or law of the United States; that she did not possess a property interest in her employment with the Town; that Plaintiff (Houser) never requested a name-clearing hearing following her termination; that she has failed to state a claim for a substantive due process violation; and that the complaint also fails to state a claim for Monell liability against the Town. According to the motion to dismiss, the official capacity claim against Mayor Tripp is duplicative requiring dismissal; and that Mayor Tripp is entitled to qualified immunity in her individual capacity. Further, the motion goes on to allege that the complaint fails to state a viable claim under state law for defamation or defamation by implication against Mayor Tripp; that Defendant Tripp is entitled to immunity in her official capacity under the Tennessee Government Tort Liability Act; and that Mayor Tripp is entitled to absolute immunity in her individual capacity.
“Alternatively, the Court should decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction and dismiss Plaintiff (Houser’s) state law claim. Wherefore, Defendants (Town of Alexandria and Mayor Tripp) respectfully request an order dismissing Plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety,” the motion concluded.
Houser is seeking a jury trial; reinstatement to her position; compensatory and punitive damages; payment of lost wages and benefits; attorney’s fees, etc.
Houser is represented by the Nashville law firm of Biesecker, Dutkanych & Macer, LLC.