Feb 11, 2014 By Jennifer Harr jharr@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

A woman has filed suit against Fayette County and Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink, alleging that Zimmerlink forwarded an email to the media in 2012 that contained allegations of the woman’s child being abused.

In the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, the woman, identified as Jane Doe 1, indicated that Zimmerlink was one of several county officials included in a chain of emails about the alleged abuse of Jane Doe 2, a minor who is also named as a plaintiff.

Doe 1 initiated email contact with Commissioner Vincent Zapotosky on June 29, 2012, concerned about how the county’s Children and Youth Services (CYS) was responding to a child abuse complaint.

In that email, Doe 1 expressed concern that the agency “failed to take adequate measure to protect the safety of the children involved,” attorney Benjamin F. Goodwin alleged in the filing.

Zapotosky forwarded the email to his fellow commissioners, the director of CYS and the agency’s solicitor, the district attorney and a state representative, Goodwin wrote.

The email asked that a meeting be scheduled with those involved to discuss Doe 1’s concerns with CYS — and contained specific allegations of abuse believed to have occurred to Doe 2.

“The plaintiff expected that the email containing accounts of child abuse sent to state and county public officials would remain confidential and private due to the sensitive subject matter of the email,” Goodwin wrote.

“On or about Aug. 1, 2012, Angela Zimmerlink forwarded the email of the plaintiff, which contained specific allegations of child abuse, including those involving the minor plaintiff herein, to reporters at a number of local papers,” Goodwin alleged.

The suit alleged Zimmerlink has a custom or policy “to disseminate to the media county business she felt she was not adequately informed about and included in by the other commissioners.”

The suit alleged the Does “suffered great emotional injury, humiliation and emotional distress” as a result of having the emails forwarded to the media.

Zimmerlink said late Tuesday that her involvement was “within county code.”

“It is unfortunate that the plaintiff filed suit against the county and me, given that Commissioners Zapotosky and (Al) Ambrosini encouraged this action by asking for a county internal investigation. My limited involvement in this matter was within county code and with the knowledge and agreement of the parties concerned,” she said.

The filing alleges both state and federal constitutional violations, and violations of the right to privacy and the state’s Child Protective Services Law.

Under the Child Protective Services Law, the Does are guaranteed the right to privacy and confidentiality as it pertains to abuse allegations, Goodwin wrote.

“The dissemination of allegations of specific instances of child abuse is highly offensive and not of legitimate public concern,” Goodwin wrote of the alleged right-to-privacy violations.

The filing asks for monetary damages and various court costs and fees.