5 ex-CPS workers to appeal dismissal of wrongful firing suit

PHOENIX (AP) - Five former Arizona child welfare workers who were fired last year amid an agency scandal plan to appeal a judge's dismissal of their wrongful termination lawsuit.

Phoenix attorney Terry Woods said Monday he believes Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Oberbillig made an incorrect legal decision when he approved a request from the state to throw out their lawsuit.

The state's child welfare agency was rocked by the November 2013 discovery that thousands of hotline calls were labeled as not worthy of being investigated.

The ex-Child Protective Services employees argued they were fired in April 2014 to provide political cover to then-Gov. Jan Brewer and Clarence Carter, who headed the Department of Economic Security.

The state argued that they were at-will employees and could be fired at any time.