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Terminated official strikes back with lawsuit
Terminated official strikes back with lawsuit
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Former Bainbridge Zoning Inspector and Township Administrator Michael Joyce has filed a lawsuit against the township. It was filed last week in Geauga County Common Pleas Judge Forrest Burt's court by attorney Walter J. McNamara III, of Mentor.
Mr. McNamara said the termination of Mr. Joyce by the township last January was in violation of the township's regulations, as well as the Ohio Revised Code. One issue is age discrimination, he said. The lawsuit claims that the township has been engaged in a pattern of discriminating against employees based on age.
Such termination of employment was wrongful and in violation of Mr. Joyce's rights in regard to state age-discrimination statutes, according to the suit.
Mr. Joyce is asking for damages covering a number of categories, including vacation, sick time and other money he said is due him. Mr. McNamera has said Mr. Joyce is owed $80,000 for those categories and $47,000 in severance pay.
The amounts would be in addition to any amount determined for wrongful termination and age discrimination.
In the action last January, Mr. Joyce was not reappointed to his job as township administrator by Trustees Jeff Markley and Lorrie Benza. They also voted not to reappoint him to the position of zoning inspector.
"He serves at the pleasure of the board, and we didn't reappoint him," Mrs. Benza said.
Trustee Matt Lynch opposed the actions, which took place during the annual appointments of department heads.
Mr. Lynch had said he only learned about his fellow trustees' intentions concerning the non-reappointment in a 15-minute executive session before the trustees meeting.
Mr. Lynch said he had wanted to wait on a decision, but the other trustees refused. It deserved more time for public input, he said. He referred to the non-reappointment as a firing.
Mr. Joyce was paid $65,000 a year for his duties as township zoning inspector and $10,000 for the part-time township administrator work.
Mr. Joyce, of Chester, is a former zoning inspector in that township, and he was elected as a township trustee there in November 2009.
He was the first township administrator for Bainbridge and was working on a number of projects at the time he was not reappointed.
Mr. Markley said this week that the attorneys will handle the issue.
Mr. Lynch said the matter will be turned over to the township's insurance company, as advised by the Geauga County Prosecutor's Office.
Mrs. Benza said, while a charge is being made that they violated Sunshine Laws, she and Mr. Markley discussed the issue before she was sworn in as a trustee. She has said she met with many people before being sworn in, including personnel, department heads, Mr. Markley and Mr. Lynch, all in public places.
"Since becoming a township trustee, I have had no meetings with my fellow trustees besides those fully sunshined and open," she said early in the year.
"This would be a labor dispute," Mr. Markley said of Mr. Joyce's claims. "He is alleging we didn't pay for the amount of time he spent here."
Mrs. Benza and Mr. Markley said they were not eliminating the position of township administrator but were redefining the duties and responsibilities. "We still haven't made a decision on that position," she said.
Mr. Markley said age was never a factor in the discussions of Mr. Joyce's position.
The position is vacant, and, as chairman of the trustees board, Mr. Markley serves as acting township administrator.
Shane Wrench, who was serving as assistant zoning inspector, was appointed zoning inspector. The assistant position was not filled.
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