Haley Swaino
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Andrew Worrall, a fired Ashland Police sergeant, has filed a lawsuit against the City of Ashland for whistleblower retaliation and violations of Missouri’s Law Enforcement Bill of Rights.
The lawsuit alleges Worrall, who served for about 10 years, was wrongfully terminated in July 2025 after a “false report” reporting alleged misconduct by another officer Tracey Cleeton.
Worrall allegedly told Chief Scott Young and the city’s attorneys that Cleeton made a dishonest statement against a former officer that led to his firing.
The city is accused of delayed investigating Cleeton’s alleged misconduct for seven weeks. After Worrall said he was going to share his concerns with Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson, he was suspended just three days later and eventually fired in July of this year, the petition alleges.
In 2023, Worrall had signed a complaint with Officers Tom Whitener and Rick Smith accusing then-Chief Gabe Edwards of unethical, unlawful and discriminatory behavior.
Edwards was placed on administrative leave three days after that report was made. The Missouri State Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control said it had an active investigation involving Edwards in August 2023. He resigned as part of a settlement reached with the city in December 2023.
“Andrew [Worrall] is the highest ranking person among them, signed it under his own name, in part to protect the other officers, too, from retribution. That didn’t exactly work out,” Attorney Andy Hirth, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Worrall and is also Whitener’s attorney, said.
After his suspension, Cleeton submitted a statement that contributed to the firing of Whitener.
“I think the city believes that Tom Whitener was really the instigator behind the complaint. And in short order, it removed him from his position, placed him on leave and eventually terminated his employment without providing a reason or any kind of due process,” Hirth said.
Whitener filed a lawsuit against the city in October 2023, claiming he was wrongfully terminated from his position. He also claimed whistleblower retaliation and disability discrimination. That lawsuit led to Worrall reading Cleeton’s statement in court.
“Andrew Worrall was deposed in that case. He gave a testimony under oath as part of the Whitener matter,” Hirth said. “And in that, he [Worrall] saw a document that was one of the documents the city relied on when it fired Tom Whitener.”
Worrall had not seen the document before because it was not a public document.
“When he looked at that document, he thought, ‘Well, this isn’t true,'” Hirth said. “It was a statement submitted to the city administrator back in July, on July 18, 2023, that accused Tom Whitener of erratic behavior and sort of being unstable.”
Cleeton, who was a part-time officer at the time, claimed Whitener “used force” at an Independence Day parade in 2023, according to Hirth.
ABC 17 News is not able to review the document, as it is under a protective order in the Whitener case.
After the deposition, Worrall talked to the only other witness that was present for the events described in Cleeton’s letter that ultimately got Whitener fired.
“That witness contradicted what Tracey Cleeton had said,” Hirth said. “And so Sergeant Worrall, believing he had a duty to report that one of his subordinate officers had submitted a false statement, he wrote a memorandum to the new chief of police.”
Worrall wrote a memorandum to Young, who was sworn in as the interim chief in July 2023 amid the investigation of the former chief.
“He [Worrall] said, ‘I have reason to believe that what Tracey Cleeton said was false and that would violate these specific policies within the Ashland Police Department, including a policy requiring all officers to behave honestly and to speak honestly in their duty.'”
After a month passed without action, Worrall brought his concerns to Young again.
“He wrote the chief again and he said, ‘I’m not sure what’s happening here. Can you investigating,” Hirth said. “And he was told, ‘Well, it’s out of my hands. I’ve given it to the city attorney. I can’t tell you anything more.”
Another few weeks allegedly went by.
“Worrall decides, ‘Well, they haven’t talked to me. I’m the one that wrote the complaint. They haven’t talked to the other witness. So they clearly have not investigated,'” Hirth said. “So he wrote the chief a third time and said, “Look, I think I have obligations to report this to the Boone County prosecutor’s office if the city is not going to. And so I wanted to give you a heads up that I’m going to do that because I don’t want you to be caught unaware.'”
Hirth said the last time Worrall wrote to the chief was on June 9, 2025. On June 30, he was suspended pending an investigation into a complaint that had been filed against him the day before by Tracey Cleeton.
“Cleeton was also interviewed,” Hirth said. “And following those interviews, the day after Andrew [Worrall] was interviewed, he was terminated and the city reported to the police officer standards and training program that he was fired for submitting a false complaint of dishonesty against Tracey Cleeton.”
Hirth said it’s ironic and unfortunate that Worrall was fired for making a “false report,” about another officer’s “false report.”
“The fact that they fired Andrew Worrall after learning that his suspicions were, in fact valid, is kind of a mystery to us,” Hirth said. “But viewed through the lens of what it did to Tom Whitener, we see this as part of the city’s pattern to silence anybody that speaks out against corruption or misconduct within the city government.”
He said Worrall’s lawsuit highlights a bigger issue playing out across America.
“There’s a lot of distrust in the United States between the public, some parts of the public, and law enforcement,” Hirth said. “And you know that that distrust can’t be fixed unless people believe that their officers will report when their fellow officers do something wrong. You can’t demand that the police do what’s right and then punish them for doing it. That’s just not the way the system works. And if it does work, you’re going to get rid of the good officers like Tom and Andrew, and you’re going to only have the ones left who are willing to write false statements for their friends.”
Worrall claims APD violated Missouri law.
“Under the Law Enforcement Bill of Rights, a law enforcement agency has 90 days to investigate a complaint against an officer. And if they don’t do it within that time, they can’t punish the officer,” Hirth said.
Whitener’s case is still pending in the Boone County Circuit Court, with a possible court date in June 2026. Worrall’s lawsuit was filed on Tuesday morning. He is seeking reinstatement, back pay, damages and attorney’s fees.
“I think they [Worrall and Whitener] are also very suspicious of the city leadership, particularly the city administrator, who’s really the constant player. I mean, the the overlap between these cases is the city administrator and the city attorney.”
ABC 17 News reached out to Ashland City Administrator Kyle Michel on Tuesday. He said he was unaware of the lawsuit and a comment would be available later this week.
“I think they’re having a very uncomfortable conversation with their insurance carrier this morning,” Hirth said.
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