Two former Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office employees are suing Sheriff Chipp Bailey, accusing him of firing them because they did not support his 2010re-election campaign.
In the lawsuit, Ivan McLaughlin and Timothy Stanley, both of Charlotte, claim that their firings came within two months of the election despite previous positive performance evaluations and that the incident is "part of a pattern and practice of terminating employees in the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office for political reasons."
But in a statement to the Observer, Bailey said his employees are told how to contribute or volunteer for his campaign but are not encouraged,coerced, threatened or promised anything in return.
"I have almost 1,400 employees and I'm sure not all of them supported me or contributed to my campaign," he said. "I couldn't possibly keep up with everyone's politics."
McLaughlin was hired as a counselor at a juvenile center in 2007 and later became a detention officer in Mecklenburg jail facilities in 2009, according to the lawsuit. The suit says that between 2007 and 2010, he received positive remarks on his annual performance evaluations.
Stanley was hired as a detection officer at the jail in 1998 and moved to arrest processing about six years later.
The lawsuit, filed last month in Mecklenburg Superior Court, claims Bailey, a Democrat, requested that employees volunteer for his 2010 campaign against Republican contender Christopher Hailey.
In 2010, Bailey admitted he used a county database of his employees to solicit campaign donations and support.
Some argued the move was a violation of state law that prohibits employees from using county money, supplies or equipment for partisan purposes. But Bailey said he didn't feel he broke the law because the names had been previously downloaded to a disc and his actions didn't incur any cost for the county.
At the time, Bailey said he had reiterated to his staff that no one should feel coerced to donate.
Bailey, who was first appointed sheriff in 2008 to fill the role of longtime Sheriff Jim Pendergraph, was not penalized for using the database and won the election.
McLaughlin and Stanley did not contribute or volunteer for Bailey's campaign. The suit also claims that Bailey and his campaign officials knew McLaughlin was a friend of Bailey's opponent in the election.
Stanley was terminated on Nov. 30, 2010, and McLaughlin in January 2011.
The suit alleges that McLaughlin and Stanley were fired by Bailey "for refusing to make contributions to Bailey's re-election campaign and for failing to volunteer to work in his campaign." It also says that McLaughlin was terminated because of his "Republican beliefs."
McLaughlin and Stanley are each seeking at least $5 million in compensatory damages and more than $10,000 in punitive damages.
On Tuesday, Bailey said one of the men involved in the lawsuit was fired after a chain of command hearing and the other was not reappointed to the position of deputy sheriff.
"Case and statutory law clearly support my authority to terminate or not reappoint either of these employees,"Bailey said.
Cooke: 704-358-5067
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