HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Sumner County Library Board voted 4-3 on Wednesday to terminate Hendersonville Public Library director Allan Morales.
Morales lost his job because of viral accusations by actor and author Kirk Cameron, former swimmer Riley Gaines and "Duck Dynasty" personality Missy Robertson.
Cameron held a children's reading event last month at the Hendersonville Library and publicly accused them of giving him and the other celebrity guests pushback.
Robertson went on a podcast to discuss what she says staff were doing when they were shooting promotional videos inside the library.
"They're slamming books together. They're kicking cabinets. They're hollering out loud," said Robertson.
It was a decision that shocked Marilyn Kleist.
"To terminate him so publicly. That was not right. That's not right, that I know for sure," Kleist.
She joined others in support of her brother Morales at the Sumner County Library Board meeting.
Morales was the library director at the Hendersonville branch but that ended Wednesday night.
"That is shocking, and it's sad and it has literally divided a community. It has, you know, branded the library team in ways that only told one side of the story," said Kleist.
These accusations went viral with many people posting their frustrations about the staff on social media, which in some cases turned into harassment.
On Tuesday, a bomb threat was emailed to library staff.
Hendersonville police are actively investigating this threat.
Kleist says she was hoping Kirk Cameron and others who made these accusations were going to attend the meeting, and they did not.
"I was hoping that they would also be held accountable. And that would be brought to light but, it wasn't. And today Allan did not get an opportunity to speak. He was asked to show up at the hearing and was pretty much invisible."
I hope that the rest of the side of the rest of the story comes out," said Kleist.
Sumner County commissioner Tim Jones gave public comment at the meeting telling members Morales was not the staff member accused of being disruptive.
County Mayor John Isbell is calling for healing in the community.
