A former Clay County deputy sheriff has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that he was retaliated against after reporting concerns about a fellow deputy and later telling the sheriff that community members had encouraged him to run for the office.
Terrance Wurdeman sued Clay County, Clay County Sheriff Jeff Franklin and Chief Deputy Sheriff Kreighton Baxter in the U.S. District Court for Nebraska. The allegations are contained in the lawsuit and have not been tested at trial. Wurdeman is seeking damages, reinstatement and a jury trial.
Alleged retaliation
Wurdeman’s lawsuit says that in June 2024, a Nebraska State Patrol investigator asked him to report a fellow deputy. The report concerned an alleged failure to protect two children from an intoxicated driver and the sheriff’s office’s handling of the incident.
Two months later, according to the lawsuit, Franklin announced that he would not seek re-election and was supporting Baxter as his successor. Wurdeman said he told Franklin that people in the community were asking him to run for sheriff. The lawsuit alleges that he then faced retaliation.
- Wurdeman says he was the only deputy left out of department training in September and October 2024.
- He says he was suspended without pay on Oct. 22, 2024.
- He says he was fired by phone on Oct. 28, 2024.
Certification dispute
Two days after the alleged firing, the sheriff’s office reported to the state that Wurdeman had left employment for reasons that could justify revoking his law-enforcement certification, according to the lawsuit. Wurdeman says his certification has since been locked and that he cannot work as a law enforcement officer anywhere in Nebraska.
The certification issue gives the lawsuit a broader public-safety consequence beyond Wurdeman’s former job with Clay County. The Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center received the change-of-status report, and Wurdeman is asking the court to order Clay County to withdraw or correct it.
Wurdeman also seeks compensation for lost wages and benefits. His requested remedies include returning him to his former position as a Clay County deputy sheriff and allowing a jury to decide the case.
The filing remains at the lawsuit stage. The allegations against Clay County, Franklin and Baxter are claims, not findings of wrongdoing, and the case will proceed through the federal court process.
