JEFFERSON CITY - Jay Nixon is heading to federal court this week for firing a quadriplegic because Nixon made the arbitrary decision that she couldn’t do her job. Nixon officially joins the growing number of Democrats who find themselves in serious trouble with the law.

The lawsuit against Nixon says that 15-year-veteran attorney Marla Grothoff was fired by Nixon after responsibility for staff attorneys within the Department of Social Service Enforcement Division were handed over to the attorney general’s office. Nixon is being sued both as the attorney general and as an individual. A settlement conference in the case will be held at 9:30 a.m. this Friday, November 2, in the U.S. District Court for Western Missouri in Jefferson City.

“In effectively discharging the Plaintiff and refusing to further employ her, Defendant failed to make reasonable employment accommodations for Plaintiff’s disability, and Defendant discriminated against Plaintiff in violation of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and Section 504, specifically because of Plaintiff’s disability,” the lawsuit filed in Boone County Circuit Court on November 23, 2004, said. Copies of the lawsuit and settlement conference documents can be found at:

http://www.mogop.org/media/grothoff_complaint.pdf

“It is incredibly disturbing that Jay Nixon pays political lip service to the disabled when it’s convenient but in reality doesn’t believe that a longtime practicing attorney measures up to his office standards because of her disability,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “This is yet another sad example of a growing trend among Democrat state officials who have little regard for the laws they are sworn to uphold and it is particularly troubling that the attorney general is involved in this kind of discrimination.”

Among the other Democrat legal problems:

• October 26: Nixon, titular head of the Democrat Party and the self-proclaimed chief law enforcement officer of the state, admits that he violated state law by using his taxpayer-financed vehicle to attend political fundraisers by reimbursing the state for close to $50,000, a figure Nixon came up with on his own.
• November 1: Assistant Senate Minority Floor Leader and Judiciary Committee member Chuck Graham is scheduled to appear in court on drunken driving charges.
• November 6: State Sen. Jeff Smith, like Graham a member of the Judiciary Committee, and state Rep. Joe Aull, are scheduled to be in a Cooper County court for illegally presenting false identification to gain access to a gambling boat during the lobbyist-backed junket.
• November 26: State Rep. John Bowman will appear in federal court on bank fraud and credit card fraud charges.
• Underway: Former Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shieldsand her husband are ion trial on federal charges for taking part in a mortgage fraud scheme.