Non-resignation now termination

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 4/28/22

In another twist to the dismissal of former Assistant District Attorney Joey Fenlaw, District Attorney Angela Albers decided to terminate him after accepting a resignation he claimed he did not give. Wood County commissioners approved the termination at the April 19 meeting.

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Non-resignation now termination

Posted

In another twist to the dismissal of former Assistant District Attorney Joey Fenlaw, District Attorney Angela Albers decided to terminate him after accepting a resignation he claimed he did not give. Wood County commissioners approved the termination at the April 19 meeting.

In a letter dated April 10, Albers listed reasons for his termination giving specific dates of problems recorded concerning Fenlaw.

Albers stated, “To avoid any further confusion on your part, the termination of your employment with the Wood County Criminal District Attorney’s is effective April 6, 2022.”

Albers then listed times and dates of events she believed were valid reasons for Fenlaw’s termination.

Fenlaw had claimed he did not resign, but did tell Albers he would return to Wood County to run for the district attorney position in 2026. Albers claimed he did verbally resign, saying there is audio, video and several witnesses to support the resignation claim.

Problems peaked when Fenlaw was told he needed to speak with his supervisor, Brandon Baade, concerning a task given to him to write an appeal. Fenlaw said he had never written an appeal and was a trial lawyer. He also stated, “District Attorney Angela Albers has worked with our office since 2007 and has been DA since 2019 and she has never written an appeal for our office. I do not believe she has ever written an appeal at her previous job either. I simply do not have time to try and tackle an appeal with such a heavy workload. I had jury trials, grand jury presentations, witness interviews and the list goes on.”

Fenlaw wanted to speak with Albers concerning Baade. He said he could not go to Baade because he is what Fenlaw wanted to talk to her about.

In the two-page termination letter to Fenlaw, Albers gave specific dates of Fenlaw’s alleged wrongdoings.

Albers made specific claims on seven dates from March 24, 2020 through April 6, 2022. The list included five times Fenlaw used curse words which in one incident on Sept. 14, 2021 made a female staff member feel uncomfortable, and she stated she could not take this type of behavior anymore.

On April 6 Albers was advised by Fenlaw he needed to speak to her as soon as possible. Albers advised she was in a meeting and he should speak to his supervisor (Baade). Fenlaw told her no and she advised him she would write him up for insubordination. It was then Fenlaw told her there were 90 other county jobs available and Fenlaw told her he was going to run against her in 2026. Albers said Fenlaw slammed a door and left the office. He later returned and began removing diplomas off the wall. He left again at 2 p.m. that day with most of his personal belongings removed from the office.

On Feb. 25, 2022 Albers’ letter stated, “You walked into my office and after a discussion you raised your voice and said ‘I’m not putting up with this today.’ You called the first assistant a sociopath and grabbed some files and left the office without permission.”

In Albers’ dismissal letter, she states, “I was also advised of other behavior including slamming boxes of files down in the office and slamming doors. You became angry recently at a docket because the files were not in order to suit you and began cursing in the courtroom in front of another attorney. You tossed papers at a staff member and told her ‘Fix this sh____.’ You also called the first assistant and told him to tell me go f____ myself.”

On March 24, 2020, Fenlaw was given a written reprimand by Albers stating a second warning could include termination. Fenlaw refused to sign the reprimand.

When asked about the situation, Fenlaw responded, “I’m not going to give Brandon Baade a preview of what’s coming in the campaign of 2026. There is going to be a lot of collateral damage and it’s caused by Brandon Baade and Angela Albers. I hate that, but that is on them.” 

After hearing Fenlaw’s statement Albers replied, “I am not comfortable talking about a personnel problem at this time.”