'Joe the Plumber' lawsuit tossed
8/5/2010COLUMBUS — A federal court has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed former state employees violated "Joe the Plumber's" constitutional rights by illegally accessing his personal information.
Republicans hailed Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher of suburban Toledo in 2008 as an example of the middle-class worker who would be hurt economically by an Obama presidency.
Mr. Wurzelbacher sued Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Helen Jones-Kelley and two other department officials. He claimed they were retaliating against him for speaking out against Mr. Obama. Ms. Jones-Kelley and one official resigned and the third lost his job.
The U.S. District Court said Wednesday that the retaliation claims were not concrete enough and the privacy claims did not amount to constitutional violations.