A female district attorney in Georgia is facing a lawsuit from a former prosecutor who accuses her of creating a ‘bro culture’ in the office and denied her a promotion because of her gender.
Former prosecutor Skye Musson brought her lawsuit all the way back in April 2022. Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones, the state’s largest county, was due to be deposed in the case in April 2023 but never showed.
This week, Judge R. Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia ruled Cook Jones in default for her failure to show up at the deposition, alleging that the Democrat has been deliberately avoiding asking questions, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Cook Jones took on the lead prosecutorial role in a rape trial that was due to begin on the same day that she was due to be deposed in he lawsuit, Judge Baker said.
The judge said that the DA did not inform those involved in the suit about the scheduling conflict until the day before she was due to make her appearance.
DA Shalena Cook Jones was elected to the office in Grantham County in 2020, she’s now accused of facilitating a ‘bro culture’ in her office
Prosecutor Skye Musson says that she was denied a promotion to the office’s Guns and Gangs Unit because of her gender
The judge also said that Cook Jones attempted to duck and dodge making a deposition for months before settling on a date. When that date arrived, Cook Jones said that she was not aware of the conflict and did not appear.
Cook Jones took over the office in Georgia in January 2021. That same month, Musson said that she expressed an interesting in taking over the office’s Guns and Gangs unit.
The role went to a ‘less qualified, heterosexual male’ named Christian Stolfe, the lawsuit alleges.
When Musson complained, she was told that although she had the same resume s Stolfe they were ‘going in a different way.’
Musson, a military veteran, also said that Cook Jones told her that the Guns and Gangs unit needed to be under the purview of someone who would not take extended leave, meaning maternity leave.
Musson continued to plead for the role only to be told that they needed a man in the office in order to deal with ‘male officers, their demeanor and behavior.’
Musson said that Cook Jones fired her in April 2021 and framed her departure as a resignation. Musson now practices defense law in Savannah, Georgia.
In another section of her lawsuit, Musson said that another prosecutor was fired because of her ongoing friendship with the plaintiff.
Judge R. Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia ruled Cook Jones in default for her failure to show up at the deposition
Musson, a military veteran, also said that Cook Jones told her that the Guns and Gangs unit needed to be under the purview of someone who would not take extended leave, meaning maternity leave
In his ruling, Judge Baker called Cook Jones excuses for not appearing ‘utter nonsense built on fabrications.’
According to a report from the Savannah Morning News, Cook Jones’ term as the DA has been riddled with problems including the loss of 25 prosecutors as well as convicting just 32 percent of murder cases, among the lowest in the state.
Multiple reports suggest that her office has struggled to cope with a backlog of Covid-19 cases.
Among those who have been calling for her ousting is state Rep. Jesse Petrea, a Republican, who helped to pass a law in the state allowing for an oversight board to remove underperforming district attorneys.
In an act of political symbolism, Governor Brian Kemp signed the bill into law in Chatham County.
Musson isn’t the only former assistant district attorney to file a lawsuit against Cook Jones. Former prosecutor Anthony Burton identifies as a gay man in his suit and said that he suffered in Cook Jones’ office because of his sexuality.
He was fired allegedly for gossiping about fellow prosecutors in text messages, reports Savannah Now. Burton will appear as a witness in Musson’s case. Burton plans to run against Cook Jones in 2024.
Cook Jones won her seat after a highly-charged partisan battle with incumbent Republican Meg Heap.
Cook Jones made headlines in May 2022 when she announced that her office would stop prosecuting misdemeanor marijuana cases involving possession of less than an ounce of the drug.
Like other prosecutors, police chiefs and sheriffs who have stopped marijuana enforcement, she cited the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s refusal to test for small amounts of marijuana unless other felony charges are involved.
‘Without a verified test, the state cannot prove that the accused violated the law,’ Cook Jones said in a statement at the time.
Jones said she would still prosecute people with more than an ounce of marijuana, those who sell the drug, those who possess it around children or in school zones and those who drive while impaired.
State lawmakers, mostly Democrats, have introduced a number of bills in the Georgia General Assembly seeking to legalize marijuana or reduce penalties for possession, but none have advanced.