Fortson responds to dismissal

Fortson submitted a letter Nov. 20 to county human resources director Donna Sisk in which he responded to the reasons given by the BOC for his dismissal.

“He did not file an appeal,” said Sisk. “He requested a conference with commissioners.”

Sisk will bring up the matter before county commissioners at their next meeting on Monday, Dec. 8, who will determine whether or not they want to meet with Fortson.

Fortson served as county clerk for nearly 12 years, but he was suspended with pay by commissioners on Nov. 18, pending his permanent dismissal, which is scheduled to take effect Jan. 6.

The BOC cited five reasons for firing Fortson, including errors in budgeting projected revenue, failure to handle a claim for unemployment benefits correctly, failure to implement auditor’s recommendations, continued accounting errors and failure to keep the BOC informed on significant issues.

Fortson said the commissioners expected him to perform the work of three people and that the unemployment issue was a result of having too many tasks put on one person’s shoulders.

“This event occurred during the period of time that I was attempting to perform the duties of three positions, County Clerk, Deputy County Clerk and Human Resources Manager and the results of the event were unintended,” wrote Fortson. “The expectation that any one person could perform such a task is unrealistic and unreasonable.”

Fortson said he carried the heavy workload from April 29 to June 16 and that the commissioners made no attempt to offer assistance of any kind.

He said the stress led to health problems.

“The workload created an additional health problem related to the resulting stress that required an increase in the medication prescribed by my personal physician,” wrote Fortson.

Here is Morris Fortson’s letter submitted to county human resources coordinator Donna Sisk in response to the BOC’s termination of his employment as county clerk:

Re: Notice of Proposed Termination of Employment

Dear Mrs. Sisk:

The purpose of this letter is to provide a response to the charges given in the above referenced notice and to request a conference pursuant to Section 14(3)(C) of the 2008 Madison County Personnel and Drug and Alcohol Policy.

I will respond to the charges with the same numbering sequence as listed in the Termination Notice:

1) “Errors in budgeting projected revenue:”
My personnel file contains a written reprimand issued by my immediate supervisor Chairman Wesley Nash on the same issue.

3) “Failure to handle claim for unemployment benefits correctly:”

This event occurred during the period of time that I was attempting to perform the duties of three positions, County Clerk, Deputy County Clerk and Human Resources Manager and the results of the event were unintended. The expectation that any one person could perform such a task is unrealistic and unreasonable. This situation existed from April 29, 2008, until June 16, 2008, and during such time there was no attempt by the Board of Commissioners to offer assistance of any kind. The workload created an additional health problem related to the resulting stress that required an increase in the medication prescribed by my personal physician.

4) “Failure to implement auditor’s recommendations:”

The auditor’s recommendations regarding the segregation of duties relating to the flow of funds was implemented to the extent possible. The recommendation was limited by the number of staff positions available.

5) “Continued accounting errors:”

An error occurred last week in the routine that generates the ach file for payroll direct deposits. The system generated an ach file for the October 31st pay date rather than the November 14th pay date. This was the first time that an error of this type has occurred and affected only the net pay amount of those employees who have their pay checks directly deposited to their accounts. There were no payroll checks cut in error. There was no cancellation of issued checks. There were a small number of payable checks cut to correct underpayments. The payroll information contained within the accounting system was correct and required no adjustments.

6) “Failure to keep Board of Commissioners informed of significant issues:”

The Spence unemployment issue was previously addressed. In the first instance of missing funds I consulted with the County Attorney and followed his recommendation as to who was to be informed. When we discovered the additional missing funds my immediate supervisor, Chairman Wesley Nash, gave me instructions on who was to be notified and the first person notified was the Madison County Sheriff.

I appreciate your assistance in this matter. Please notify me when the requested conference may be scheduled.

Sincerely,

C Morris Fortson