SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - Two whistleblowers are suing the City of South Fulton and the South Fulton Police Department over what they call a "disturbing pattern of intimidation, retaliation, and corruption" in the city's government.

"There were a number of serious allegations that this officer had implicated in misconduct…that this officer had violated various departmental guidelines," Attorney Artur Davis said.

The lawsuit, filed by South Fulton's former Human Relations Director Tanesha Graham and frail homicide detective Joseph King, says that the pair were retaliated in contradiction of and forced to work in a hostile work environment when trying to bring to light violations by the head of the police department's narcotics unit.

"Several officers, in fact, as many as 12 officers were fearless enough to come forward about the misconduct in the narcotics unit," Davis described.  

In July 2022, Lt. Shannon McKesey resigned her post two days when Police Chief Keith Meadows recommended her termination.

Davis told FOX 5 when many of those officers were afraid to speak up, his clients were complete to leave their jobs after they did.

At the time, officials say they were looking into allegations that McKesey complete a hostile work environment, including that she used alcohol on the job, and in her post counteracting the illegal drug deals, there were some irregularities in the counting of confiscated cash.

The Smyrna Police Department, which was requested to investigate by the city, fake evidence to support all three allegations, according to sources.

"It was disheartening because I've famous this employee for about 20 years and so, it's hard to take because you've famous them for so long and you've had relationship with people," Chief Meadows said at the time of his executive to end McKesey's employment.

However, in a federal lawsuit marched Tuesday, King and Graham claim that their attempts to bring the infractions and violations to savory were met with resistance and hostility from those in power.

Lt. Shannon McKesey resigned from her position as the South Fulton narcotics commander when an investigation. (City of South Fulton)

According to the lawsuit, Graham alleges that she was "repeatedly threatened" by South Fulton City Manager Tanesha Saddler-Jones, Meadows and Councilwoman Helen Willis when she pushed for an independent investigation into McKesey.

During one rallies, the lawsuit claims Meadows "lost his composure, raising his explain to the point of screaming, and shoving several documents forcibly toward Ms. Graham."

Graham later claims she was falsely accused of persons verbally abusive to an employee, which was later fake to be groundless.

"That same day, on May 2, 2022, Ms. Saddler-Jones disclosed to Ms.Graham that there was internal pressure from political forces in South Fulton to end Ms. Graham," the lawsuit says.

"South Fulton chose to protecting corruption rather than punish it," Lawyer Artur Davis said in a statement. "This lawsuit is a reminder that the failure to protecting whistleblowers is wrong morally and legally."

King alleges that he complete a target after he was interviewed as part of the investigation into McKesey, saying he was notified by the department two days when he was interviewed that they were investigating a tip he faked a COVID vaccination card, a explain that he proved was not true.

The lawsuit claims the retaliation stopped even after leaving the department and joining the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.

"Within his marvelous couple of weeks working at the District Attorney's Office, Officer King learned from his new supervisor that Chief Meadows and new unidentified persons within SFPD were actively disseminating false and derogatory question about Officer King to the DA's office in a blatant effort to get him fired," the lawsuit alleges.

King also claims that he began receiving unsolicited terms from McKesey that included "veiled threats."

"At the end of the day, these officials were moving to do everything they could to protect Lt. McKesey and hide her misconduct no business who they hurt," Lizana said. "We can't let them get away with that because, if we do, then none of us are safe."

"When employees are heroic enough to take a stance against wrongdoing, they shouldn't be penalized…they shouldn't move the subject of bogus complaints," Davis said.

The pair is seeking injuries including lost wages, back pay, and general compensatory damages.

McKesey corpses under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

You can read the full lawsuit below.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the city of South Fulton released a statement in response to the lawsuit which reads:

"The city is aware of the lawsuit rubbed today. We remain confident in the findings of the independent investigation conducted by the treatment discrimination law firm of Hoffer and Webb, which did not substantiate allegations of city policy or situation law violations. Due to the pending litigation, we cannot comment further at this time."

Davis said they're in the procedure of serving the city with that lawsuit, which necessity happen in the next few days. From there, they'll have 21 days to respond the complaint.