LENOIR CITY — A Lenoir City woman is picketing the old city
hall, claiming that she, her husband and her son were all
wrongfully terminated by the city in the past month.
Jill Strange, wife of a Lenoir City Utilities Board manager
who resigned in July, said she was terminated from her job
with Lenoir City’s parks and recreation department Tuesday
for asking too many questions about why her husband had to
resign.
Her husband, LCUB gas manager Mike Strange, resigned in July
under pressure after an internal investigation determined he
had work performed at his home by LCUB employees.
Jill Strange said she was told by her supervisor, Steve
Harrelson, that she was a good employee but that he had no
choice other than to fire her because Lenoir City Mayor and
LCUB Chairman Tony Aikens had ordered her dismissal.
Strange said she was told by Harrelson last Friday that she
should stop asking questions about the circumstances of her
husband’s departure from LCUB.
“He said stop asking questions or I could find myself out of
a job,” she said.
Harrelson, who is also a Loudon County commissioner, could
not be reached for comment.
Aikens denies that Strange was fired for asking too many
questions. He said she was a new city employee and still
within a six-month probationary period.
“The city council decided that she was not meeting job
requirements,” he said.
Aikens said he has no animosity towards the Strange family
and wishes them the best.
On Tuesday afternoon, Jill Strange was picketing the former
city hall building on Broadway in Lenoir City, carrying a
sign that accused Aikens of firing her, her husband and her
son. She said her son was a 16-year-old intern at LCUB this
summer.
“When my husband left, they said there was no reason for him
to stay,” she said.
She said the minor work that was performed at her home by
LCUB employees was standard procedure at the utility. She
alleges that other LCUB employees had work performed at
their homes without being asked to resign.