FL Fraternal Order of Police, Clay County FOP president file complaint against Clay County Sheriff

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The State Fraternal Order of Police and Clay County FOP President, Howard Fryer, filed an unlawful labor practices complaint against Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook, saying she retaliated against Fryer.

The complaint with the State Public Employees Relations Commission came from what Fryer claims was an effort to change the union’s policy to become the bargaining representative for Clay County deputies, sergeants, and lieutenants.

It alleges after those talks, Sheriff Michelle Cook criticized the efforts in front of several FOP members, saying it was “not the right time.” The complaint alleges Cook began to get involved in suppressing the local FOP policy decisions.

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The documents say Fryer’s shift changed against his will and at one point Fryer claims he was told by a supervisor he had to be monitored.

The complaint alleges some Clay County commissioners threatened to not approve Sheriff Cook’s budget if the union’s organizing efforts continued. Fryer claims following a later disagreement with a lieutenant about the county budget, he was relieved of duties and later placed on administrative duty for nearly four months. In the complaint, Fryer claims the Sheriff essentially put him on home detention without due process of law and that he was still fit for duty.

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During his time out of the office, the complaint says leadership found four more administrative cases against Fryer, one being that he left home without permission while on leave to go to a charity golf tournament for the union.

Another case alleged he left evidence at his home and didn’t put it in its appropriate place, Fryer claimed they were recordings for a homicide case he had to review and had trouble returning it based on the Sheriff stripping him of his credentials for the main building.

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“Mr. Fryer was relieved of his employment with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office following a series of internal investigations into misconduct that led to progressive discipline. We are unable to comment further on the matter due to pending litigation,” the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to Action News Jax.

Attorneys for Fryer did not want to comment any further, letting the complaint speak for itself.

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