The Lucas County Board of Elections yesterday voted unanimously to terminate Jill Kelly as its deputy director three months after she took a medical leave.
Ms. Kelly hasn't worked at the board since July 11, when she filed for the leave, citing unspecified medical reasons.
On Monday, she sent the board a letter saying she wanted to return as deputy director.
But the board hired a new deputy director last month, and did not re-instate her.
"We notified Ms. Kelly [in August] that she was a key employee, and she needed to come back on a specific date," Patrick Kriner, chairman of the elections board, said.
"That specific date came and went, and we indicated at the time that if she was not going to be returning to work, we would not reinstate her as deputy director."
She was entitled to 12 weeks of medical leave, which ended Wednesday, according to Mr. Kriner.
Initially, she asked for 30 days of leave, but later she told the board of elections she would need to leave work for longer.
The board set an Aug. 11 deadline for her return.
When that deadline passed, it said it would look for a new deputy director, and would not keep her after her medical leave ran out.
On Sept. 8, the board hired Jeremy Demagall to replace Ms. Kelly as the deputy director, and he began his job immediately.
Because she had accumulated more than three months sick time while at the board, she continued to collect her salary while on medical leave.
According to the board of elections, she was paid $19,356 during the three months of leave.
A telephone number provided on Ms. Kelly's letter was disconnected.
She was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Contact Alex M. Parker at:
aparker@theblade.com
or 419-724-6107.