By Karla Ward
Lexington Herald-Leader
WOODFORD COUNTY, Ky. — A former Woodford County EMT has filed a lawsuit against Woodford County’s judge executive and fiscal court, alleging she was retaliated against after she complained of sexual harassment.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Woodford Circuit Court , alleges sex discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation.
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The plaintiff is seeking punitive damages “to punish Defendants and deter any repetition of the mistreatment to which Plaintiff was subjected.”
The woman began working with Woodford County Emergency Medical Services in 2022, during her senior year in high school, as part of a school-to-work program that allows high school students to get certified as EMTs, the lawsuit states.
She was hired on with Woodford County EMS in November 2023 , after she had graduated from high school. The lawsuit says she was just over 18 at the time she began working with the service.
The complaint alleges that soon after she was hired, one male colleague sent her “a Snapchat in which he represented himself as a ‘sugar daddy’ and laid out a ‘menu’ of sex acts … he’d pay her to engage in with him.”
Another said “he could teach her about ‘the birds and the bees.’”
The lawsuit alleges that Najay King , a Woodford County paramedic who had supervised the woman at times during her high school training, befriended her as a student and then began harassing her after she was hired.
In one instance, the lawsuit says he “bypassed” a lock to enter her bedroom at the EMS facility, then lay on top of her while she was in bed.
King is accused of smacking the plaintiff’s buttocks as she lay on the floor “and would physically pick her up and move her from her chair,” according to the lawsuit.
He is also accused of sending the plaintiff images of his penis through Snapchat and sending her sexually suggestive texts and memes.
In August 2025 , King allegedly sent the woman a photo of his penis. She was with her boyfriend, a Versailles police officer, at the time, and she handed her phone to him, allowing him to see the image.
On Aug. 28 , a member of the Versailles Police Department told EMS Director Freeman Bailey that EMS employees were sending nude photos, and said either King or the plaintiff could be sending them.
The lawsuit says Bailey met with the plaintiff on Aug. 31 , and she told him about the harassment by King and other employees “and made clear it was unwanted.”
The lawsuit says Bailey asked “why she had not reported the harassment,” and the woman “told him she tried to ignore it because she was worried about getting anyone in trouble.”
“During this meeting, Director Bailey emphasized that — unless she had physical evidence like a photo or message — her allegations were ‘he said, she said,’” and that “she could face defamation of character charges by the accused.”
He also told her “not to talk to anyone outside of Woodford County EMS about this and to tell her boyfriend to stop talking about it as well.”
On Sept. 11, 2025 , the lawsuit says the plaintiff was called into an hourlong meeting with EMS Director Freeman Bailey and Assistant Director Kent Berry .
During the meeting, which was videotaped, the lawsuit says Bailey told the plaintiff “there is no proof anything happened” and that King “didn’t mean any harm.”
The suit says the employee who made the “birds and bees” comment admitted it to Bailey, but that Bailey told the victim it was “a ‘he said, she said’ situation.”
Bailey allegedly told the woman that “the employee that offered to pay her for sex told him that ‘he didn’t really mean it that way.”’
The suit says Berry told the plaintiff “that it is her responsibility to say ‘no’ when harassed and that, because she didn’t say no, Mr. King wouldn’t have any reason to think he said anything inappropriate.”
“If it’s brought up to anybody, and I can prove that you said it, then I can fire you and file charges against you for defamation of character of somebody else,” Bailey allegedly told the woman.
When she told them her biggest concern was “that Mr. King would be in the high school,” the lawsuit says Berry responded, “I’m going to give you a slight piece of advice — be very careful throwing Molotov cocktails on a fire that’s been put out. Be very careful.”
The suit says they told the woman that her statement was “defamation of character” and warned her that King “does have a professional career that you could easily tarnish by doing that.”
“Be extremely cautious what you say because it can come back to backfire on you,” the woman was told.
“The best thing for you is to lock those lips. Do not say another word about this to anybody. Do not discuss nothing. Does your mom know? Sister know? Anybody at school know?” the suit says she was told.
The suit says the woman was “constructively discharged” from her position.
It says she met with the head of human resources the day after her meeting with Bailey and Berry, intending to file complaints against them, as well as the coworkers who allegedly harassed her.
The HR director allegedly told her that “because she did not say ‘no’ to the harassment or file contemporaneous complaints about it, she would be ‘incriminated’ if she filed an official complaint.”
“With it being clear that Woodford County had no intention of seriously addressing the harassing conduct or providing a remedy to ensure her safety, (the woman’s) work conditions became intolerable,” the lawsuit states.
The suit says she contacted HR on Sept. 15 to say that she needed to take time off.
“Given the current environment, I am uncomfortable working those shifts,” the lawsuit says she wrote.
The Herald-Leader is not identifying the woman because of the nature of the allegations.
King, Bailey and Berry are not named as defendants in the lawsuit.
Woodford County Judge Executive James Kay is named as a defendant in his official capacity. The lawsuit also names the Woodford County Fiscal Court as a defendant.
The lawsuit was filed on the woman’s behalf by Frankfort attorney William Branco .
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