Former Attorney General Miyares faces two wrongful firing lawsuits after employees allegedly flagged questionable payments

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Former Attorney General Jason Miyares and other former Office of the Attorney General (OAG) leaders are facing two lawsuits filed by former OAG employees alleging wrongful firing after concerns were raised about a payment that was alleged to be a conflict of interest.

On Dec. 19, 2025, Ashley Miller, former financial manager for OAG, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Miyares, former chief deputy Attorney General Steven Popps, and Christie Wells, former chief financial manager.

This lawsuit was filed roughly two months before the suit filed on Feb. 12 by Miller's coworker, Linda Orr, former financial services manager, against Miyares, Popps and Teresa Vice, former director of Human Resources for the office.

The two lawsuits alleged that Miller and Orr were fired in retaliation on the same day -- March 24, 2025 -- after they raised concerns about payments requested by the office to be made to a nonprofit led by multiple employees within OAG.

Both Miller and Orr are seeking damages, back pay, front pay, interest from the day they were fired, and the coverage of legal fees.

According to the complaint filed in the lawsuit, Miller was initially hired in 2021 as a senior accountant for the OAG and later took the position as financial manager.

Both lawsuits allege that after years afterward, in December 2023 and January 2024, Miller noticed a vendor invoice submitted to her for payment by the Virginia Attorney General’s Animal Law Unit.

The payment request reportedly directed Miller to pay taxpayer funds to The Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force (VAFTF), a nonprofit registered to the Richmond area with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC).

As of reporting, multiple former or current OAG employees were listed as VAFTF leaders on the organization’s page in the SCC’s business entity information system.

Both lawsuits alleged that Miller noticed that VAFTF had never been registered for payment by the OAG before and began collecting documentation about the organization.

The complaint said that Miller noted that multiple attorneys who were employed by the OAG served as executive leadership of the nonprofit.

Miller reportedly recognized that the payment request was allegedly an illegal conflict of interest and flagged the matter to Wells, during which Miller refused to remit payment.

Afterward, Wells and Popps allegedly agreed to continue processing payments to VAFTF in alleged violation of state and federal law. Both Wells and Popps reportedly acted under “specific direction” by Miyares.

After meeting with OAG leaders, Wells reportedly explained that Popps and others decided that OAG would not issue payments directly to VAFTF, although the invoice was submitted under the nonprofit's name and the charge was made on the nonprofit's credit card.

Instead, the complaint in Miller's lawsuit alleged that OAG leaders directed that the reimbursements be made directly to "Ms. Taylor," appearing to refer to Amy Katherine Taylor, who is listed as VAFTF's treasurer on its SCC registration page.

Taylor is also listed on the Virginia Animal Protection Group's website as being the first animal crimes investigator for the OAG.

Wells allegedly said that Taylor understood the plan and agreed to pay the nonprofit back.

The lawsuit alleged that OAG leadership sought to pay the nonprofit through employee reimbursements "to avoid transparency," allegedly avoiding transactions or written records connecting OAG to VAFTF.

According to the complaints in both cases, Miller noted to both Wells and Popps in mid-January 2024 that the funds could not be paid to employees of the office, as the funds were regulated under state and federal law, and refused payments allegedly amounting to "thousands of dollars" on Jan. 16 or Jan. 17, 2024.

Miller reportedly flagged the issue to office leadership and continued communications about the issue in February 2024.

Miller and Orr communicated with each other regarding the matter, and were later fired on the same day.

Both lawsuits alleged that the firings were retaliatory after the employees raised concerns regarding the payments.

8News has reached out to Miller's attorney, as well as Miyares, Popps, VAFTF and Taylor for comment.

The complaint is available in its entirety below.