BATON ROUGE — Four former lawyers in the state's public defenders office are suing their former boss, alleging their dismissals violated contracts they had with the state.

The four also sued the Louisiana Public Defender Board, alleging it was complicit in Remy Starns' decision to terminate them. The lawsuit, filed last week in East Baton Rouge Parish, claims the four were let go because they disagreed with Starns' policies.

Michelle AndrePont, Brett Brunson, John Hogue and Trisha Ward say state law prevented Starns from firing them without a proper reason.

"These statutes, were intended to, and did, create a protected property interest in the continuation of the contractual relationship between District Defenders and the State, which cannot be terminated without good cause," their laws

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