ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina court has dismissed a slander and libel lawsuit filed by an ex-Asheville police officer against the city and her former police chief.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals threw out former Sgt. Lisa Taube’s case against Asheville and former police Chief Tammy Hooper in March, The Asheville Citizen-Times reported Thursday.
Taube alleged in her 2019 lawsuit that Hooper used her as a scapegoat during the case of a white officer filmed beating black pedestrian Johnnie Jermaine Rush in 2017, the newspaper reported.
Rush was accused of jaywalking and former officer Christopher Hickman was charged with felony assault in his beating. The city settled the case for $650,000.
Taube was Hickman’s supervisor at the time, and Hooper publicly criticized and disciplined Taube for her response to the incident.
The newspaper said it was unclear whether Taube would seek to have the state Supreme Court hear her case. Deadlines for appeals were extended amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Asheville has maintained that Taube did not have a viable case.
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