A former St. Louis County employee alleges the county health director instructed her to lie in response to a Sunshine Law request, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
The request was intended to uncover a proposal to mass euthanize animals at an animal shelter as its control switched back to the county from the Animal Protective Association in February. Dr. Kanika Cunningham, the county health director, initially denied in early February that the proposal existed but admitted she’d seen it later in the month. She told St. Louis Public Radio that she immediately rejected the proposal.
Rhonda Belics, who filed suit against Cunningham and the county in St. Louis County Circuit Court on Wednesday, said her duties included helping respond to Sunshine Law requests. Belics said she filed an internal complaint against Cunningham in September after Cunningham instructed Belics to lie and say the euthanasia proposal did not exist.
The day after Belics filed that complaint, Cunningham insisted that she search Belics’ car while a security guard watched, the suit alleges.
The search was done in front of other employees and was “directly related to Plaintiff’s refusal to respond falsely to a Sunshine request,” Belics said.
After that incident, Belics said she resigned from her 15-year employment with the county.
A St. Louis County spokesperson said that Belics’ claims were without merit and that she’d invited Cunningham to “observe items inside her trunk” several times after being accused of taking things from the county and putting them in her car before office hours.
In her suit, Belics alleges invasion of privacy, unlawful retaliation, violation of Missouri Sunshine Whistleblower status and civil conspiracy. She is asking for an unspecified amount of damages.
Her attorney, Mark Pedroli, is also bringing a suit against the county and Cunningham on behalf of Lisa Pearse for allegedly denying there was no record to turn over in response to the Sunshine Law request.
This story has been updated with a statement from St. Louis County.
