A Butler County Children and Youth Services caseworker was notified Friday that she was fired.

Laurie Kubli of West Franklin Township, Armstrong County, said in an interview that a county letter dated Aug. 22 stated she used poor judgment in an Aug. 8 incident.

Kubli, 50, said she wouldn’t divulge the details of the incident due to legal reasons.

But she stressed the firing wasn’t justified: “They wanted me out of there. I think it’s retaliatory in nature.”

County solicitor Mike English and CYS director Joyce Ainsworth declined to comment on the cause for the firing.

Kubli, a union representative for the Service Employees International Union, said a grievance would be filed.

“They want to scare the employees,” she said.

Kubli accused county officials of bearing a grudge against her for being outspoken over the years.

“I don’t hesitate when I think someone does something wrong,” she said.

County Commissioner Bill McCarrier, board chairman, refuted the firing was payback.

“I’m sure it was because of the facts of the case,” McCarrier said.

Commissioner Jim Eckstein disagreed.

“I feel it’s retaliation,” Eckstein said. “It’s really a slap in the face. This is bad for morale.”

Kubli said one grudge against her is when the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in 2010 found the county guilty of unfair labor practices.

The state board determined Commissioner Dale Pinkerton on Feb. 3, 2010, should not have read the number of sick days Kubli took in 2009 at a public meeting.

Pinkerton was unavailable for comment.

McCarrier denied that ruling had any bearing on Kubli’s dismissal.

“There was nothing retaliatory about it,” he said.

Eckstein again sided with Kubli.

“That’s his opinion,” he said about McCarrier.

Eckstein said when a committee of county administration members polled the commissioners about whether Kubli should be fired, he said no.

Kubli also pointed to her questioning of the extra 20 percent pay hike given to personnel director Lori Altman in 2011 as another problem the county has with her.

“She definitely does not like me,” Kubli said about Altman. “It really is a closed system. Don’t rock the boat.”

Altman disagreed, saying she always worked well with Kubli over union matters.

“I’ve never had an issue with her,” Altman said.

Kubli said other legal action may be taken.

“That hasn’t been determined yet, but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility,” she said. “One person can only take so much.”

Kubli was a county worker for more than 18 years.