Attorneys for Athens County Sheriff Vern Castle have requested a summary judgment in an age and political discrimination lawsuit filed by a deputy that could yield a decision in the suit without a full trial.
Jack Taylor was one of eight candidates who applied for two open sergeant positions in 2005. A board, on which Castle had final say, interviewed the candidates. Taylor placed fourth out of the eight candidates, and the candidates who were awarded the positions placed second and fifth.
In response, Taylor filed a grievance with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission in November 2006, alleging he was passed over because of his age. The OCRC found no cause for the suit.
Taylor, then 51, sued the Sheriff's Office, citing age and political discrimination. He also filed a request for reconsideration by the OCRC, which is pending.
In filing with the OCRC, Taylor had denied that politics had played a part in his being passed over, said Cheri Hass, an attorney for Castle.
That opinion has obviously changed
Hass said.
According to court documents, Taylor claims that he was passed over in part because he supported another candidate's bid for sheriff. However, Taylor admits that the two never spoke about the election, according to the sheriff's motion for judgment.
In response to the age discrimination claims, Hass said the sheriff is close in age to Taylor. I'm not really sure on what he's (Taylor) basing his claims she said.
In court documents, Castle asserted that he did not promote Taylor because he did not believe they could successfully communicate and work together and viewed Taylor as lacking the ability, willingness to work and cooperation he was looking for in a candidate.
Castle's attorneys said in those documents that Taylor's suit should be dismissed because the statute of limitations on the age discrimination claim had run out and that Taylor had failed to support the claim of political retaliation.
In his request for reconsideration to the OCRC, Taylor argues that he was capable of working successfully with Castle and was well qualified for the promotion. I do not have a personal relationship with Sheriff Castle but I have professional communications with him Taylor wrote.
Out of the eight candidates I am the ONLY ONE over the age of 40
with a college education
20 years of military
and I have been a Shift Sergeant with an adjoining county Sheriff's office in the past
he also wrote.
Taylor directed questions to his attorney, Richard Hedges, who could not be reached for comment.
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Brigitta Burks
