COLUMBIA—A Richland County woman who suffered a heart attack after she says town officials improperly detained her inside Doko Manor has filed suit against the town and its mayor.
On Oct. 30, 2025, town residents Michelle and Fred Layman sued the Town of Blythewood for gross negligence, negligence, defamation, false imprisonment, and abuse of process. The suit also accuses Mayor Sloan Griffin of defamation in his individual capacity.
A response to the lawsuit had not been filed as of press time.
According to the suit, Michelle Layman is the spouse of Fred Layman, director of operations of Doko Manor, a wedding and event venue where Town Council often meets.
On Sept. 11, 2025, Michelle Layman said she entered Doko Manor during normal business hours to drop off a check on behalf of her husband. Layman said she tried to drop off the check with Kim Kacsur, the assistant director, who was in a closed door meeting at the time.
After waiting a while, Layman said in the suit that she slid the check and documents under the assistant director’s door to ensure they were delivered before the close of business.
It was then that Griffin approached Layman and demanded she retrieve the check, according to the lawsuit. Layman said she politely refused, stating any issue should be taken up with her husband.
The suit says that, “Defendant Griffin became increasingly insistent that Plaintiff retrieve the check.”
Layman, not wanting to argue with Griffin and needing to pick up her other children, attempted to leave Doko Manor, according to the lawsuit.
“As one of multiple and separate acts of negligence, Defendant Griffin instructed Walt Davis, an employee of Defendant Town, that Plaintiff and her infant child were not allowed to leave unless she took the check with her.”
In response to Griffin’s instruction(s), Davis stood at the door to Doko Manor, held the door shut so Layman and her infant child could not leave, and confined her within the building, according to the suit.
“As she pleaded with Mr. Davis to let her leave, Defendant Griffin continued instructing Mr. Davis that Plaintiff was not allowed to leave,” the suit states.
“As Griffith and Davis continued to unlawfully detain Plaintiff, Town of Blythewood human resources and finance director, Jennifer Edwards, walked over and personally observed what had transpired; however, Jennifer Edwards neither said nor did anything to intervene in the unlawful seizure of Plaintiff and her infant child, the lawsuit asserts.
“For an extended period, Defendant Town employees and officials forcibly blocked the exits to ensure Plaintiff and her infant child were not free to leave,” the suit stated.
“The longer Plaintiff was held against her will, the stress and fear for her safety and that of her infant child exponentially increased, causing her to suffer emotional and physical distress, including shortness of breath, headache, and chest pains,” the suit states.
“Mr. Davis and Defendant Griffin, two men significantly larger and more imposing than Plaintiff, continued to block and hold the door closed, so she could not leave,” the suit continues.
“The continued false imprisonment of Plaintiff, made her increasingly distressed, and afraid, not only for herself, but for her infant child.”
According to the suit, Layman suffers from hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, and her detainment “exacerbated” her hypertension. She said she asked for permission to step outside to get fresh air and retrieve her medication, but says in the suit that Davis refused.
“With her physical symptoms increasing in severity, Plaintiff made a desperate call to Fred to plead for help. Layman called her husband, Fred Layman, who called 911.”
Doko Manor surveillance footage recorded the incident, which was included as evidence in support of Michelle Layman’s lawsuit.
In the suit, Layman says the mayor and town staff each committed “a separate and distinct act of negligence” by not assisting, rendering aid, or calling 911.
“Although Plaintiff was clearly in both emotional and physical distress … Defendant Griffin, Mr. Davis, and/or Mrs. Edwards both individually and collectively refused to allow Plaintiff and her infant child to go outside,” the suit states.
Layman was subsequently taken to a local hospital, where doctors determined she suffered a heart attack. Doctors noted she was hypertensive, with her blood pressure measured at 192/100, according to the suit.
The lawsuit further states that due to “Defendant Griffin’s misrepresentations,” a Richland County deputy placed Michelle Layman on trespass notice.
“After suffering at the hands of multiple defendant town employees, suffering a wrongful imprisonment, suffering from a heart attack, suffering from other various acts and omission of the Defendant Town, and upon from her discharge from the hospital, Plaintiff found the trespass notice in her infant child’s stroller,” the suit states.
A Richland County Sheriff’s Office incident report differs from Michelle Lehman‘s and the video account of what happened. The report states Layman “entered the property without authorization and slipped a white envelope in the main office with nothing but a person’s name on it and tried to leave.”
A responding deputy also wrote in the report that Fred Layman’s claims of his wife being held against her will “were untrue.”
Layman has contested the veracity of the incident report, saying officers gathered information from the mayor, but not from her.
As a result of the incident, Layman said she suffered “embarrassment, humiliation, fear, horror, depression, mental anguish, loss of freedom, loss of quality of life, anxiety, emotional distress, economic damages, as well as personal and professional reputational damages.”
Layman is asking for a jury trial. She is seeking legal expenses, other damages as allowed by law, and any other relief deemed proper by the court.
No trial date has been set. A deadline of May 26, 2026, has been set to complete mediation, according to the Richland County public index. Attorney for the case is Jeremiah J. Shellenberg of Thad L. Myers, P.A. & Associates and A. Kip McAlister with Hawk Law Group, LLC.
The case will be tried in the Court of Common Pleas for the Fifth Judicial Circuit in Columbia. The lawsuit is listed on the Richland County Public Index and below:
