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Published: August 14, 2009 3:00 a.m.

Ex-alcohol program leader files suit over use of name

Rebecca S. Green
The Journal Gazette
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The former head of the Alcohol Abuse Deterrent Program sued his former employer for continuing to use his name on organization stationery.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in Allen Superior Court, Terry Yeiter is suing AADP and seeking damages such as the recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs.

Yeiter headed AADP for more than a decade before he was ousted by the organization’s board of directors in November 2007, citing a loss of confidence in his ability to lead the agency.

The alcohol-deterrence program uses the drug Antabuse, which causes severe reactions such as sweating, blurred vision, difficulty breathing and nausea in people who ingest even a small amount of alcohol while taking the drug.

In December 2007, AADP sent a letter to a client, Derrick O. Martin, informing him he had violated the rules of the program by failing to pay his fees. The letter, dated after Yeiter’s termination, included his name as head of the agency and bore his signature, though Yeiter never signed it, according to court documents.

Without the help of an attorney, Martin filed a lawsuit against the state of Indiana, AADP and others in late 2007, alleging he was the victim of racial discrimination and that the agencies had tried to make money off his situation by forcing him to plead guilty to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Yeiter is named in the lawsuit because his name appeared on the Dec. 3, 2007, letter, according to court documents.

A call to AADP was referred to the agency’s lawyer, who did not return a call seeking comment on Thursday.

rgreen@jg.net