Troy Pumphrey's lawsuit against Manatee School District, Dave 'Watchdog' Miner moved to federal court

BRADENTON -- Troy Pumphrey's lawsuit against the Manatee County School Board, the Manatee County School District and board member Dave "Watchdog" Miner will now be heard in federal court, at the request of Miner's lawyer.

Pumphrey, the district's professional standards investigator, originally filed the lawsuit in January. He then filed a longer, amended complaint in February. Pumphrey is on paid leave from the school district while an outside law firm conducts an investigation into all Pumphrey's employment application records with the district, at the request of Superintendent Rick Mills.

The Pumphrey issue first arose in October, when Miner held a news conference, saying Pumphrey had lied on his resume when applying to work on the school district and saying Pumphrey should be fired.

Pumphrey's amended lawsuit seeks more than $100,000 in damages. The case will be heard in federal court in Tampa now.

The district, which is being represented by outside counsel, has received the notice, Staff Attorney Mitchell Teitelbaum confirmed.

Miner is being represented by Richard McCrea Jr., a lawyer with Greenberg Taurig in Tampa.

McCrea did not immediately return a request for comment.

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Troy Pumphrey's lawsuit against Manatee School District, Dave 'Watchdog' Miner moved to federal court ."