HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) -- Two former Horry County procurement officers fired last June were in the midst of a "broad, sweeping investigation" into potential misuse of purchasing cards by judicial branch employees that sent "luxury items" to homes, state and federal lawsuits filed this week allege . Both complaints also accuse high-ranking officials including assistant county administrator Barry Spivey, airport chief Judi Olmstead and procurement director Tammy Stevens of violating the state's whistleblower act, wrongful termination and defamation, among other things. Lauren DeMasi and Jessica Williams' county careers ended within days of each other, and after meetings with Spivey and the human resources departments, their suits claim. After both were fired, assistant human resources director Katie Badgett "began to tell people in the community that Plaintiff had been fired for being in a cult," both suits claim. Williams was fired June 13, and DeMasi's employment ended five days later as a resignation "in lieu of being left without any income at all," her lawsuit says. After her grievance request was denied, DeMasi's former boss, assistant county human resources director Katie Badgett "began to tell people in the community that Plaintiff had been fired for being in a cult." Williams' complaint -- filed Monday in 15th Circuit Court -- says she was dismissed without a single disciplinary action against her and always ranked as "meeting, exceeding expectations, or exceptional in all of her employment evaluations," Williams' lawsuit claims. Jessica Willams lawsuit Download DeMasi filed hers March 31 in U.S. District Court's Florence Division. News13 reached out to county spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov, who said officials don't comment on pending litigation. Council members Dennis DiSabato, Johnny Gardner, Michael Masciarelli and Tyler Servant said later in the day they were either unaware of the lawsuit or couldn't comment citing pending lawsuits. An alarming discovery Some time last summer, DeMasi made a troubling discovery while reviewing an employee expense spreadsheet: Many purchases made by the county's magistrate and solicitor's offices had delivery addresses not tied to public property and in some instances were sent to private residences. "(DeMasi) realized during this process that it appeared that Horry County procurement funds were being impermissibly used to direct goods such as golf equipment, large-screen televisions and other luxury items to the homes of Horry County employees," her lawsuit says. DeMasi took her findings to supervisors, including Williams and procurement director Kimberly Massie. The trio met around June 4, where Williams and Massie "discussed their suspicions that there was significant fraud occurring in procurement at the Myrtle Beach International Airport" involving Olmstead, but that if they took the matter any further it would "swept under the rug" by county leaders. Lauren Demasi federal lawsuitDownload Spivey was aware of the procurement department's probe, the lawsuits state. A suspicious meeting As part of her job, Williams was responsible for reporting issues including purchasing card problems, employees splitting transactions and unauthorized or improper transactions A day before the 2024 purchase order deadline, another county employee "failed to do their job," which resulted in her reassignment to the front desk. That employee -- identified in Williams' complaint as Tara Chestnut-Smith, filed a complaint with the county's human resources department about her reassignment and "other alleged" issues within her division. Williams' lawsuit says Chestnut-Smith was "assisted" by April Kelly, who believed she should have held Williams' position within the procurement department. The HR complaint said Williams, her boss and another co-worker failed to put out an airport boarding bridge purchase as a competitive bid. "Defendants ... lobbied other employees to also complain about Plaintiff and her supervisor with the intent of bringing about their terminations," Williams' lawsuit says. Spivey gave Williams a termination letter on June 13, "pressuring her to resign," which she refused to do. Williams was then told she was being fired for among other reasons "loss of trust" in her work and creating a "non-harmonious work environment," according to her suit. Williams was interviewed by an HR team days later, where she learned that Chestnut-Smith had secretly recorded the June 4 meeting. County HR officials also wanted to know whether Williams contacted the FBI, if "bugs" were planted in the procurement office and whether she kept kittens in her office during the workday -- which later would be used as grounds to fire her, as Williams learned through a state Department of Employment and Workforce appeal hearing. Williams is also accusing her former employer of defamation through a rumor-spreading campaign accusing her and her ex-supervisor of being in a "cult" and romantically linked. On Jan. 13, Olmstead was given authority to approve contracts, modifications, change orders and other agreements up to $500,000 without pre-approval. ...read more read less