Ex-employee claims indicted Hall County solicitor retaliated after she spoke to the GBI

GAINESVILLE, Ga. - Imagine working for a county prosecutor, being questioned by police and telling the truth, then being punished for it.

A former administrative assistant for now-indicted Hall County Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard claims that’s what happened to her. In a lawsuit filed last week, Michelle Daniel alleges that after she cooperated with GBI agents who showed up at the solicitor’s office, Woodard made work unbearable, then drove her out of the job. 

"She was in a tough spot," her attorney, Joey Homans, told the FOX 5 I-Team.

A Hall County grand jury indicted Solicitor Woodard last month, accusing her of spending public money on personal expenses. She faces 13 counts of false statements and writings and 11 counts of theft by taking, all felonies. In total, Woodard stands accused of illegally taking nearly $4,200 from public coffers.

The indictment followed a year and a half of investigations by the FOX 5 I-Team into her spending, with the I-Team’s first report in October 2022 apparently sparking the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's probe.

In her lawsuit, which cites Georgia’s Whistleblower Act protecting government employees, Daniel claims she provided information to agents the following November. She had served as Woodard’s executive assistant for two years at that point, and alleges that after her interaction with investigators, Woodard retaliated – calling her names and humiliating and embarrassing her.

Daniel also claims that when she took her concerns to the county’s Human Resources director, instead of getting help, she wound up getting the boot. 

"As far as we know, there was no true investigation through Hall County Human Resources or anybody at Hall County," Homans said. 

The lawsuit seeks hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost wages, lost benefits, loss of retirement income and other damages. Daniel declined to be interviewed for this story, instead having her attorney speak on her behalf.

Calls and emails to Woodard’s defense attorneys weren’t returned. However, in a written statement after last month's indictment, her attorneys blasted the GBI, accusing the agency of harassing Woodard's family and children despite "ongoing severe health issues that they were facing." The statement said Woodard "absolutely committed no crime, but yet she has been viciously pursued by the GBI for years."

According to the lawsuit, agents spoke with Daniel about activity by Woodard and others that "constitute or may constitute fraud, waste, and abuse." The agents took Daniel’s calendar, ticket log and cell phone.

"She did not hold anything back. She was fully cooperative," Homans said. "They took her cell phone with her permission. But she was without her cell phone for several days."

According to the suit, that’s when the trouble started. The complaint accuses Woodard of verbal insults, moving Daniel from a private office to a cubicle, chastising her about the office temperature, falsely accusing her of calling the fire marshal, and scheduling events without telling Daniel then blaming her in front of other employees for resulting scheduling conflicts.

"Scoldings for just petty matters," Homans said. "Ms. Daniel was referred to as 'Pretty Princess' by Ms. Woodard to other employees, just in a mocking, derogatory manner."

It was all to drive the executive assistant out of her job, the complaint alleges, saying the solicitor "repeatedly suggested that Plaintiff seek employment with other Hall County Offices."

It turned out those GBI agents Daniel talked to were onto something serious.

The eventual charges by the grand jury track closely with the FOX 5 I-Team's reporting.

After examining almost two years of receipts, the I-Team reported how thousands of dollars budgeted to help crime victims had instead been spent by Woodard on herself or family members. Purchased items included expensive earbuds, noise-reducing headphones, pillows, jewelry repairs, antique shopping sprees and baseball caps for Gov. Brian Kemp's reelection efforts.

The solicitor even spent public money cremating her dog, the I-Team found.

Citing multiple employees, the I-Team also previously reported that, amid the GBI investigation, Woodard created a toxic environment within her office.

According to Daniel’s lawsuit, she took her retaliation concerns to Hall County Human Resources Director LisaRae Jones, providing names and contact information of people who could corroborate her account.

Instead, according to the suit, Jones told Solicitor Woodard, who stripped her executive assistant's credentials and work email address and placed her on paid administrative leave.

A month later, the HR director and an assistant solicitor met with Daniel and allegedly gave her just 24 hours to consider taking another position within the office. When Daniel didn't answer, the county fired her the next day, on November 15.

The I-Team reached out to HR Director Jones, but she wouldn't take the call and referred questions to a county spokesperson who had no comment on the pending litigation.

Woodard, a Republican, became Hall County's solicitor in 2008, prosecuting low-level crimes such as DUIs and simple battery. She remains employed by the county. Gov. Brian Kemp has received a certified copy of her indictment, so by law he has to wait 14 days before forming a panel to recommend whether Woodard should be removed from office.