In the latest twist in an ongoing drama involving Douglas County governance, Commissioner Lora Thomas has filed a lawsuit against her colleagues. The suit seeks to recover the attorneys fees Thomas incurred as she defended herself amid allegations that she created a hostile work environment and wrongfully distributed a government document.

The suit names Thomas' fellow commissioners, Abe Laydon and George Teal. It centers on their allegations of malfeasance and the subsquent investigation launched by Laydon and Teal last year. The investigation, by outside legal counsel, found that while Thomas had distributed an anonymous letter that criticized specific employees in the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, doing so did not create a hostile work environment. 

“While Laydon and Teal directed multiple legal actions against me using county-funded lawyers, they forced me to personally shoulder my own legal expenses to defend against their ridiculous and outrageous allegations,” Thomas wrote in a news release in coordination with the filing of the suit on Aug. 29.

Thomas in the past had asked Laydon and Teal to “personally repay the taxpayers" of the county for related legal expenses.

“I have — not once, but twice over the past seven months — formally requested to be reimbursed for my attorney fees resulting from my defense,” Thomas wrote, adding that Laydon and Teal rejected her requests.

Thomas' legal counsel during the investigation cost her about $5,700, according to the lawsuit complaint in Douglas County District Court.

“This legal action I take today is about more than just money; it is about the abject abuse of authority versus what is right, just and correct,” Thomas stated.

The lawsuit comes comes a day after Laydon and Teal voted to remove Thomas from outside boards that oversee organizations in the community and  a week after the two voted to censure — or formally disapprove — of Thomas in another matter. And it comes amid a string of 2-1 conflicts on the three commissioner board.

Legal arguments

Thomas’ lawsuit asserts her legal fees must be reimbursed based on two different arguments.

“Acting County Attorney Christopher K. Pratt, Esq., advised the Commissioners in (a) public session that the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (‘CGIA’) required them to pay Commissioner Thomas’ legal fees for defending against the investigations unless … Commissioner Thomas’ conduct was not only illegal, but willfully and wantonly illegal,” the legal complaint said.

The complaint also references the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision in a case called Wadlow v. Kanaly.

The Colorado Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the Wadlow decision in a case called Adams County Commissioners v. Adams County Treasurer, the complaint said.

“[W]hen the question of the respective powers of two governmental bodies is at issue, it would be inequitable to require one official, acting in [her] official capacity, to personally bear the burden of attorneys’ fees and costs generated in the suit,” the complaint said.

The complaint argues that the Wadlow case applies because Laydon, Teal and Thomas are engaged in a dispute regarding the powers of their offices with respect to Thomas’ powers as an individual commissioner.

Laydon and Teal have used the county attorney, or an outside law firm hired by the county attorney, to represent them “at no personal expense — while forcing Thomas to ‘personally bear the burden of attorneys’ fees and costs generated’ by their actions,” the complaint said.

County costs

Thomas had also requested that the county government reimburse her for her $5,700 in personal costs in a letter dated June 29.

In terms of county spending, Thomas has clarified what she says is the “total amount of taxpayer dollars wasted on this fiasco.”

The investigation of Thomas by outside legal counsel cost about $24,000 in total. The cost was previously reported as $17,000.

“When the request for the total cost was made in the summer of 2022, the final invoice for $6750 had not yet been paid … With the addition of the final invoice of $6750, the final total cost is now $23,746.46,” an email from county staff said.

Commissioners respond

In a statement, Laydon said that "Thomas expecting the people of this county to pay her for her own malfeasance, which has already cost this community too much, is a continued reflection of her habitual poor judgment."

"To be clear, Lora Thomas has never been cleared by the board for civil wrongdoing and multiple blatant violations of the board policy manual, which she approved and agreed to uphold," Laydon said in the Aug. 30 statement. "I sincerely hope that our colleague will return her focus from herself back to serving the people in her final months on the board of county commissioners."

Teal in a statement said: "Commissioner Thomas is suing the people of Douglas County."

"No matter how this lawsuit goes, it is the people of Douglas County who will pay for Commissioner Thomas's petulant and childish lawsuit," Teal said.

Correction: This story was updated to correctly describe legal costs amid investigations of Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas last year.

This story was also updated to add, for context, details of a request from Thomas that the county reimburse her.

This story was updated to reflect statements from Commissioners Abe Laydon and George Teal.