When the executive director of the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency decided to fire three black administrators, he didn't turn to the agency's human resources division or the attorney general for advice, according to the former employees' attorney.

Instead, Sean Casey appears to have consulted his wife, former labor and employment lawyer Tiffani Casey—the associate general counsel for United Distributors, according to attorney Edward Buckley of Atlanta's Buckley Beal. United Distributors is the largest alcoholic beverage wholesaler in Georgia and Alabama.

Emails sent from Tiffani Casey's corporate email account to her husband provided a fill-in-the-blank script for Sean Casey to follow when firing the employees, said Buckley, who represents those former employees. The emails were obtained from the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency during discovery, said Buckley, who believes they played a role in the state's decision to settle for $1.5 million last November. The case was dismissed Dec. 21.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Audrey Fuller, the agency's former assistant director of training centers; Robert Nibbs, the agency's former chief business development officer; and Jimmy Wilson, its former chief financial and chief operating officer.

The three administrators claimed Sean Casey, who is white, fired them because they were black, according to the lawsuit. Buckley said the reasons Casey gave for firing the three administrators, which reflected the suggestions detailed in the email from his wife's corporate account, “just didn't add up,” since they were all successful before Casey's arrival.

The Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency operates more than 40 offices across the state and oversees the state's Business Enterprise Program, Disability Adjudication Services, Georgia Industries for the Blind, Cave Spring Center and Roosevelt Warm Springs. Its mission is to help people with disabilities live independently and secure meaningful jobs.

Casey, who was appointed by former Gov. Nathan Deal in October 2016, remains the executive director. The three administrators were fired about six weeks after Casey was appointed, according to the complaint.

Sean Casey previously served as assistant commissioner of government affairs at the state's Department of Administrative Services and as deputy commissioner at the state Department of Revenue. Casey also worked for Deal at the governor's Office of Planning and Budget.

Buckley said the emails from Tiffani Casey's corporate account to her husband in December 2016 bolstered the lawsuit's contention that “there was a decision to terminate before the alleged reasons for termination had been arrived at.”

Tiffani Casey did not reply to voicemail messages or emails seeking comment.

William Shearer III, general counsel for United Distributors, said Thursday that after The Daily Report contacted Tiffani Casey on Wednesday, she explained to him she didn't send the emails to her husband, although Shearer acknowledged they were sent via the company's server.

Shearer said Casey told him her husband used her company laptop at the couple's home to email himself notes to his personal email while she was cooking dinner and caring for their children. Shearer added that Tiffani Casey did not write the emails, did not send them and had “no clue” about the content.

“For whatever reason, he sent them from her United email address,” Shearer said. “He was sending notes to himself. That's all she knew.”

“United was not involved in any way,” Shearer said. “It's not in the scope of her duties here or employment to send anything like that.”

“Any kind of use of [the company] email system is completely inconsistent with company policies and should not be done,” he added.

And, he added, “We wouldn't be representing the state in any way.”

Before joining United Distributors, Tiffani Casey spent six years as a labor and employment lawyer at the Atlanta offices of Fisher & Phillips, which specializes in representing management, and three years at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, according to her LinkedIn page. She also worked at Atlanta's Smith Currie & Hancock.

State Attorney General Chris Carr and staff lawyers negotiated the settlement agreement while the case was still in discovery. Buckley was joined by firm associates Ashley Wilson Clark and Isaac Raisner.

A spokeswoman for Carr said the attorney general wouldn't comment on the settlement, referring The Daily Report to the settlement agreements.  The defendants—the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency and Sean Casey —“expressly denied” the claims in the settlement agreement, and specified the agreements “should not be construed as an admission by any party of any liability or wrongdoing.”

Carr's spokeswoman referred all questions to Casey, who did not respond to a request for comment.

Buckley said that three emails from Tiffani Casey's work account provided a template for what to say when firing the three administrators. The email came less than 48 hours before they were fired.

Buckley said the emails included “fill in the blanks” for specific examples based on standard causes or language traditionally used in terminations. “It was kind of like they were in search of a reason,” Buckley said. “OK, hubby, read this to the individual when you fire them.”

Buckley said his clients told him Sean Casey appeared to be reading something when he fired them and that what Casey said was consistent with the emails from his wife's account.

One email, dated Dec. 5, 2016, and sent at 6:56 p.m. was sent from Tiffani Casey's corporate account with the subject line “to my loving husband -easiest one.”

“Thanks for coming to meet with me. I'll be to the point,” the email said. “As you know, we have been reviewing the agency's performance with regard to its goals. … We have uncovered a number of issues related to your performance and responsibilities that are concerning.”

The email then leaves space for specific examples of “several instances of (what appear to be) policy violations” and of alleged “mismanagement in your role.” It also leaves space for multiple examples of “numerous instances of unprofessional conduct” and “numerous hiring decisions placing friends and acquaintances into positions they are not qualified to fill.”

Buckley said all the talking points in the emails “were false.” Buckley added he believes the emails demonstrated the state's human resources department was “out of the loop” when Sean Casey decided to fire the three administrators and that Casey concocted a pretext for getting rid of them.

“He doesn't consult with the AG's office. He doesn't consult with GVRA [Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency] HR people. They are completely in the dark when this happens,” Buckley said.

“None of our clients were ever interviewed in the course of the purported investigations concerning them,” he continued. “No one ever sat down with them and said, 'Look, we have these allegations about you. What's your response?'”

“In the normal course of an investigation of an employee, that sort of thing should have happened.”

Addressing Tiffani Casey's explanation for how her corporate email account was used, Buckley said, “It's fascinating that Sean Casey would have been sending himself an email from his wife's corporate account, which is presumably password-protected, addressed 'to my loving husband – easiest one.'”

“In normal parlance, most of us don't send emails to ourselves expressing our love to ourselves,”' Buckley said. “That being the case, there is always a first time for everything.”