Williamson sheriff: Officer fired over racial slang

ROUND ROCK — Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody said he fired a detective this month because a post on her Facebook account used racial slang that violated the sheriff's office's new social media policy. 

"Detective (Heather) Vargas posted and/or failed to remove a post that violated that policy," Chody said in an email Tuesday. "Due to the derogatory use of the 'N' word of the post by Detective Vargas and a complaint by an employee, Detective Vargas was terminated."

Vargas' lawyer said Thursday the meme Vargas shared on her account on Aug. 21 was composed by Vargas' ex-boyfriend, who used racial slang to tease her about dating him, a younger man.

The post "was intended as a joke about Heather dating younger men, which she explained numerous times to her command staff," said Lytza Rojas, Vargas' attorney.

"It had nothing to do with race," added Rojas, who claimed that the real reason Vargas was terminated was because she had complained about a hostile work environment.

"The actions by Sheriff Chody following his ever-changing and selectively applied media policy are simply a distraction from the real reason Heather Vargas was terminated," she said.

"While employed at the Williamson County sheriff's office, Heather was subjected to continuous discriminatory practices from her supervisors. The misconduct ranged from inappropriate comments about the appearance of her breasts on a Facebook post to being subjected to filming by Live PD against her will because, as her superiors commented, her looks would hike ratings, regardless of the danger it put her in."

Vargas was fired on Sept. 11, Rojas said.

Chody said Rojas was "misinformed."

"There have been no substantive changes to the social media policy with exception of the one most recent change as a direct result of the recent outcry regarding a past commander," said Chody, referring to a series of controversial Facebook posts made by former Cmdr. Steve Deaton that came to light recently.

Deaton, who resigned earlier this month, faced criticism over the posts, which made jokes about date rape, kidnapping and the mutilation of a black football player. When the posts came to public attention, Chody said he could not fire him because the sheriff's office's social media policy was too vague.

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Chody revised the policy in response to the incident. He said Tuesday that he had released the new policy "to the whole agency including Vargas."

"I am unaware of what Rojas is referring to as it relates to the other matters regarding Vargas," Chody said. "The post by Vargas violated the new policy as well as conduct unbecoming and any number of other policy violations to include violations of the old policy."

The new social media policy says that the sheriff can fire employees whose participation in social media is deemed inappropriate, brings discredit on the sheriff's office, or "calls into question your honesty, loyalty to the sheriff's office or integrity as a law enforcement officer."

The policy also says the sheriff can fire employees whose social media "shocks... a reasonable person seeing, reading or viewing your activity on the digital or social medium."

Vargas was a narcotics detective and had been with the Williamson County sheriff's office for more than seven years, Rojas said. She has been in law enforcement for 15 years and had previously worked with the Bexar County sheriff's office.

Rojas would not say whether Vargas was going to file a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.

"At this point Heather and her attorneys intend to exhaust all available options," she said.