Linda Carter’s mind started slipping away because of dementia six years ago, so her loyal deputies started increasingly taking over her duties as DeKalb County Superior Court Clerk, her successor said in an interview.
They thought it might be office mold making her forgetful. Or even menopause. They even helped her get re-elected in 2008, hoping her condition would improve.
But nine months after her recent term started, Carter was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. As it progressed, she was reduced to being an spectator in her own office, coming to work each day because family and co-workers thought it was good for her. But she quietly resigned in March.
Carter’s condition became public in April when she filed suit against Debra DeBerry, her chief deputy, who became clerk after she left. Carter, who acknowledged she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, said her co-workers tricked her into signing a resignation letter on a day when her faculties were diminished. The two sides have agreed to settle with Carter being paid by the county a still-to-be-released sum to make up for lost pension.
DeBerry said she was speaking out with the settlement of the lawsuit. She said she considers herself Carter’s friend and that she and others in the office never took advantage of her. “We wouldn’t have taken care of her for several years to turn around and trick her,” DeBerry said. “We were working to get her through this last term. We worked so long to continue the work she started, all with privacy and dignity.”
DeBerry’s attorney Robert Highsmith said the lawsuit was not about Carter getting her job back.
“The question was never, ‘Should Linda be the clerk,’” Highsmith said. “The question was what was the compassionate thing to do.” Carter’s attorney did not return phone calls for this story.
Carter, who is 59, alleged DeBerry “took advantage of [her] fragile mental state” and discriminated against her based on the Americans With Disabilities Act.
But mental health experts say making workplace accommodations for those with Alzheimer’s is difficult because of the progressive, degenerative nature of the disease.
DeBerry said she worked on Carter’s campaign in 2000 when she was first elected and was hired to be in charge of many of the day-to day operations. She said the clerk’s office, which handles civil and criminal court cases and real estate filings, was in disarray when they came in 2001.
In 2005, Carter started becoming forgetful. “Even Linda questioned that something was not right,” DeBerry said. At first, they thought it was mold in the office that hurt her memory. Then they thought it was menopause.
“It’s horrible to watch a friend go through this,” said DeBerry. “It’s like seeing someone you know and care about die a little bit each day.”
DeBerry started going to doctors’ visits with Carter. In 2008, Carter decided to run again for her third term. At the time, DeBerry said, those in her office did not yet know their boss was suffering from dementia. They just thought she was forgetful.
“Because of her pride and dignity, we didn’t want to confront her,” DeBerry said. Carter won in a landslide, although she did little campaigning.
Carter was officially diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s nine months after her third term started.
From then on, DeBerry and the other chief deputy, Rick Setser, basically made all the decisions. Still, they say, they kept her in the loop. “It was not so much she’d remember,” recalled DeBerry. “But she was the clerk. It was out of respect.”
Setser, who came to office with Carter in 2001, said, “I can’t tell you the number of times Linda and I talked about her health. We knew at some time it would have to come to an end.
“Toward the end, there was a lot of talk all over the county — what was wrong with her?” he said.
The end came March 24 when TV reporters, tipped off to Carter’s condition, came to the office, demanding to talk to her.
“More than anything, Linda didn’t want this coming out,” said DeBerry, who is running for the $127,000 job next year.
That day, Carter and several aides conferred. Setser said Carter knew what she was signing that day.
“She was going to go out quietly,” he said.
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