Former BREC employee terminated twice in six months sues commissioners, superintendentBATON ROUGE - Several BREC commissioners and employees were served with civil summonses at a public commission meeting on Thursday, July 23. The summons came from the daughter of former BREC employee Tonya Gordon Smith, who filed a lawsuit alleging employment discrimination and retaliation. Smith said she was fired in September 2025 after refusing to process payments in a purchase order that she claimed violated company policy. Smith said she wants the case to lead to changes at BREC, including more training for employees on purchasing procedures and stronger financial oversight. "At the end of the day, one of the things I want is to make sure the structure of the purchasing at BREC is revamped," Smith said.