by Jeff Saunders
Reporter
Northfield Center -- A former township Trustee and part-time firefighter has filed a civil complaint against the Board of Trustees and fire chief in connection with his 2007 suspension from the township's fire department.
According to the complaint, filed March 2 in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, Richard A. James is asking the court to order he be reinstated as a part-time firefighter, claiming the township unlawfully terminated him in July 2007.
The complaint names Trustees Paul Buescher, Richard Reville and Brent Sommer and Fire Chief Robert Derrit as defendants.
Buescher, Derrit and Sommer said March 5 that they were unaware of the complaint and declined to comment.
Neither James nor Reville returned phone calls seeking comment by press time.
James served as Trustee from 1997 to 2001 and is the husband of Township Fiscal Officer Monica James. According to township records, he served on the fire department from 1984 until July 2007, when he was put on suspension and never reinstated.
In his complaint, James states that Derrit suspended him on July 8, 2007 "pending disciplinary actions" by the Trustees.
The complaint states that no disciplinary action was taken and under state law, the suspension should have been lifted after 15 days.
"To date, [James'] suspension has never been lifted, and no decision has ever been rendered by the Northfield Center Township Board of Trustees," states the complaint.
A public records request seeking documentation regarding the reason for James' suspension was not answered by press time.
The record was not present in James' personnel file when it was reviewed by the News Leader March 5.
The complaint also alleges the township has not responded to James' request to return to work under conditions set by Derrit in a February 2008 "return to work agreement."
Instead, the complaint states, the township has removed James' name from the roster of active firefighters without affording him due process.
E-mail: jsaunders@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3169