Court gavel

A status hearing on a lawsuit filed by two former Limestone County Water & Sewer Authority managers is set for May 3, court records show.

A hearing was originally scheduled for Feb. 28 but was suddenly postponed by presiding Judge William E. Hereford. No reason was given for the postponement.

If the May 3 hearing proceeds as scheduled, it will be the first in more than a year. The last status hearing was held in April 2018.

Byron Cook and Greg Holland filed a wrongful termination suit against the members of the LCWSA board of directors, the board’s former legal counsel and former Limestone County Commission Chairman Mark Yarbrough in November 2016.

The men claim the defendants conspired to fire them Oct. 27, 2016. The men claim Yarbrough brought pressure to bear to get his son, Ben, hired with the LCWSA and later to get him a good review and a promotion.

The lawsuit also claims Yarbrough ordered the firing of Cook and Holland because Yarbrough was angry at Holland for downgrading Ben’s job review. They further claim Yarbrough was angry Cook would not fire Holland for doing so.