Coffee County Manchester Public Library’s Youth Librarian Daphanie Gragg alleged in a public statement on April 27 that her termination earlier in the day was due to retaliation from her employers stemming from claims of work-related medical conditions.

According to an email sent to the Times purportedly from Library Director Pauline Vaughn, Gragg was terminated for “no-call, no show” and for failing to “communicate with (Vaughn) by email or phone regarding returning to work.”

According to the email, Gragg was cleared to return to work on April 22 following what Gragg said were severe respiratory related issues to mold present at the library.

Employees of the Manchester Library were told via email to report to work at the Coffee County Administrative Plaza after the library was closed on March 5 due to the presence of mold at the facility.

Gragg alleges she did not receive the email until 11 a.m. due to her inbox being full and arrived at CCAP before noon. She said, however, that “after I texted the director to inform her that I was present at the CCAP building and ready to work, I was terminated via email.”

Vaughn said in the email to Gragg that the Library Systems Technology Coordinator had informed her that Gragg’s email inbox being full was not possible and that Gragg was responsible for checking her emails.

“Based on these facts,” she said, “I believe my termination is related to my workers’ compensation claim and to raising workplace safety concerns. I have also not been paid in two months and was forced to use all of my accrued vacation time just to cover my mortgage and feed my four children.”

According to Gragg, she had not had any previous infractions or disciplinary issues in the four years of her employment and said that that other employees have been late or missed full shifts without termination or discipline.

The Coffee County Employee Personnel Manual lists “Absence without approved leave in excess of three (3) working days” as a reason for immediate termination.

Vaughn was contacted for comment but had yet to respond prior to publication.

County Mayor Dennis Hunt said that the few interactions he has had with Gragg in the past have been positive.

“I am sad to learn that she no longer works for our library department. Our department heads have the authority to hire and terminate employees in their respective departments. The county mayor should never second-guess or deliberately diminish the authority delegated to our department heads,” Hunt said.