BATON ROUGE - BREC Interim Superintendent Janet Simmons issued a statement after an employee's termination was overturned Tuesday night.

Tonya Gordon Smith said she was fired because she refused what she called improper payment orders. Smith, who worked at BREC, said she refused to process payments that violated department policies, including using "current funds to pay old invoices."

The Human Resource Complaint Resolution Committee recommended Tuesday night that Smith be reinstated, determining that her supervisor was not present in the meeting where the decision to terminate Smith took place; the committee also said Smith's decisions were correct.

Simmons said the case "followed agency policies and procedures."

"We maintain our commitment to a fair, supportive and inclusive workplace while working every day to strengthen communication, improve processes and continue building trust with the community we serve," Simmons said in a statement.