GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A former sheriff’s deputy in Florida has filed a lawsuit over his firing.
Zac Zedalis says in a federal lawsuit that Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell fired him for criticizing Darnell’s operation of the office during last year’s Democratic primary, not because he had a domestic dispute between and this then-wife, Kathleen, who was also a deputy.
The domestic dispute happened in July 2015 and both were fired in February 2016.
Zedalis ran against Darnell in the primary and lost when Darnell received 72 percent of the vote. Darnell won a third full term in November.
Alachua County Sheriff’s spokesman Art Forgey told The Gainesville Sun that the lawsuit is without merit. Darnell and Zedalis did not comment.