Court dismisses Ender’s claims of wrongful discharge

Joe Ender

Era archives

The Oldham Circuit Court came to a decision on part of former Deputy Judge Executive Joe Ender’s lawsuit against the Oldham County Fiscal Court, dismissing Ender’s two claims of wrongful discharge due to the fiscal court’s sovereign immunity.

The court order, signed by Vice Chief Regional Circuit Judge Jerry D. Crosby II on Feb. 3, describes that Ender alleged three claims: “violation of the Kentucky Whistleblower Act,” “Public Policy Wrongful discharge for the refusal to Falsify Business Records,” and “Public Policy Wrongful Discharge for [reporting an alleged] violation of the Kentucky Open Meetings Act.”

As previously reported, legal representatives of the fiscal court claimed that sovereign immunity shields the fiscal court from Ender’s allegations of wrongful termination, but left Ender’s claim of a violation of the Kentucky Whistleblower Act to be addressed later “at the appropriate time.”

“Sovereign immunity is a common law concept recognized as an inherent attribute of the state …” the Feb. 3 order reads. “The protection of sovereign immunity extends to county governments as held by the Kentucky Supreme Court in Ruplinger v. Louisville/Jefferson Cnty. Metro Gov’t [in 2020] …”

The order further cited the 2008 Kentucky Court of Appeals case, “Jewish Hosp. Healtcare Servs., Inc. v. Louisville/Jefferson Cnty. Metro Gov’t,” in stating that “sovereign immunity may only be waived by an enactment of the General Assembly …”

Further, “the Kentucky Supreme Court has determined in Withers v. University of Kentucky [1997] … that waiver of sovereign immunity would be found ‘only where stated by most express language or by such overwhelming implications from text as will leave no room for any other reasonable construction.’

“An examination of KRS 517.050 and the Open Meetings Act reveal no express language which waived the county’s sovereign immunity … The language of these two statutes do not rise to the level of implication of a waiver of sovereign immunity despite their applicability to acts by or against county government.”

With no waiver of sovereign immunity present, the court granted the fiscal court’s motion to partially dismiss Ender’s claims, leaving only the allegation of violating the Kentucky Whistleblower Act to be considered as the case progresses.

Ender’s legal representatives have the opportunity to appeal the circuit court’s decision, though no notice of appeal has been entered into the circuit court record as of Feb. 4.

Both legal representatives for the Oldham County Fiscal Court and former Deputy Judge Executive Joe Ender have yet to respond to the Era’s request for comment.

Since this lawsuit began in September 2025, Ender has been charged with theft and official misconduct following his termination as the deputy judge executive. He pleaded not guilty to his charges at an arraignment on Jan. 8, and has a pretrial conference scheduled for March 5 at 9 a.m.

This article may be updated with comments from either side’s legal representatives.