Former Richland jail director sues county for defamation after he was fired

Did Richland County officials know that the man they hired last summer to run the county’s troubled jail had been fired from his previous job? The county publicly said it didn’t know, but Tyrell Cato says the county was fully aware of his recent employment history when it hired him.

Now Cato, who was fired by Richland County after just more than two months on the job, is suing the county for defamation and negligence concerning public statements made about his hiring. In a lawsuit filed this week, Cato claims the county lied and damaged his reputation by saying that Cato had not been forthcoming about his employment history before he started the job.

The county’s tumultuous relationship with Cato dates back to late June 2022, when county officials interviewed him to become director of the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. He officially took on the role in early July.

Only weeks before, in late May, Cato had been fired from his previous job as director of the Kershaw County Detention Center after being accused of sexual misconduct in the workplace.

In allegations made to Kershaw’s Department of Human Resources and upheld by the Kershaw County Grievance Committee, an unnamed employee accused Cato of propositioning her for a relationship, making repeated sexual remarks and, on one occasion, using a hug as an opportunity to smell her hair, The State previously reported.

Cato was put on unpaid leave starting May 13 and was terminated following an investigation on May 24, according to county records. Cato appealed his firing, but it was unanimously upheld by the Kershaw County Grievance Committee on June 28.

In the meantime, Cato was interviewed by Richland County on June 22 and offered the job as its jail director on June 23, according to Cato’s new lawsuit against the county. He started the job on July 5.

In the following weeks, reporting by The State and other media revealed not only that Cato had been fired in Kershaw County, but that Richland County officials had not requested Cato’s employment records from the state Criminal Justice Academy until weeks after he was hired.

The Post and Courier reported at the time that Richland County Administrator Leonardo Brown said he was not aware of Cato’s firing during the hiring process, which took place in April. Brown did not respond to questions from The State about Cato’s hiring.

In his defamation lawsuit filed this week, Cato maintains both that he is innocent of the sexual harassment allegations that led to his firing in Kershaw County and that Brown and Richland County officials were actually aware of his previous firing when they allowed him to start the job.

On June 30, 2022, a week after Richland County offered him the job, Cato says in his lawsuit that Assistant County Administrator John Thompson called him to say that Brown had heard Cato was fired from Kershaw County due to sexual harassment allegations.

During that phone call, Cato says he told Thompson that it was true that he was fired but that the allegations against him were false and he was appealing his termination. According to Cato’s lawsuit, Thompson relayed that information to Brown.

But after that time, “Brown published false statements to the media … alleging that he was not aware of the false allegations against Plaintiff (Cato) before allowing him to begin his employment with Richland County,” Cato’s lawsuit says.

Cato claims in his lawsuit that in August, Brown assured Cato that Cato had done “nothing wrong” and that Brown “did not intend to take action against Plaintiff because: Plaintiff was not asked about his termination; Plaintiff was not dishonest; Plaintiff was honest when asked about his termination; and the accusations against Plaintiff were at Kershaw County and had not been proven.”

Cato was placed on unpaid leave by Richland County on Aug. 20 and then fired Sept. 9 “due to an alleged failure to inform Defendant Brown of the accusations against him,” Cato’s lawsuit says.

Cato’s lawsuit cites an interview Brown gave to WLTX TV station in September saying, “Richland County really had no reason to believe that (Cato) wasn’t in good standing with Kershaw County,” and statements made to other media that Brown “‘had no reason to believe’ and ‘no idea’ there were any outstanding allegations against (Cato) throughout the hiring process.”

Cato claims that the county’s statements regarding his hiring were defamatory and contributed to the “false insinuation” that he “is unfit for his profession.”

Cato is seeking unspecified damages from the county and Brown for “reputational harm, embarrassment, and suffering,” as well as attorney’s fees and costs associated with his lawsuit.