The Jefferson County Health Department’s Board of Trustees voted 3-0 in an Oct. 21 closed meeting to place Judy Tufts, the agency’s emergency response supervisor, on paid leave.
The board also voted to give Tufts until 4 p.m. today, Oct. 31, to resign. Otherwise, her employment was to be terminated at that time, Health Department director Kelly Vollmar said in an email.
Vollmar would not comment on why Tufts was placed on leave. Tufts also declined to comment.
She is married to Richard Tufts, the Health Department’s assistant director.
Administrative services manager Jennifer Pinkley said Judy Tufts, who began working for the department on Jan. 5, 2004, was being paid $66,664.08 a year.
Vollmar said Oct. 25 that Health Department officials had not decided what process they would use to fill Tufts’ position.
Health Department trustees Tim Pigg, Vernon Cherry and Amber Henry all voted to place Tufts on leave. Dennis Diehl abstained from the vote, and James Prater was absent from the meeting.
Diehl said he used to be the Health Department director and had supervised Judy Tufts, so he abstained from the vote to avoid the appearance of bias. He also said he knew his vote wouldn’t have made a difference in the outcome.