Published: June 12, 2009 09:19 pm      

Dan Moore, Clark County named in lawsuit

Two former court employees allege they were fired because of political reasons

Clark County Circuit Court Judge Dan Moore, along with Clark County, has been named in a lawsuit by two former court employees.

Jeremy Snelling, a former bailiff, and Chanelle Vavasseur, a former court reporter, filed separate suits May 13 against the county and Moore, claiming when he took office in January, they were fired without reasonable cause.

The complaint alleges that the dismissal was made on the sole ground of the plaintiffs’ political affiliation, therefore violating their civil rights under United States Code, said Rick Fox, attorney for Snelling and Vavasseur.

Vavasseur’s suit includes an additional complaint alleging violation of civil rights because she is black.

The former employees are seeking damages for lost salary, reimbursement for the Public Employee Retirement Fund, life insurance and health insurance benefits.

“I think to begin with, we have a situation where the judge comes in and lets the two Republicans go and kept the Democrats,” Fox said. “It’s a pretty simple case. In Indiana, if you’re hired by a government agency, you can be let go if you’re in a position of confidence. The other is if you’re involved in a policy-making decision.”

Because neither one of the employees fit the above job parameters, Fox said they were unjustly fired.

The employees were let go Jan. 1, Moore’s first day in office following a victory over then-Judge Abe Navarro in the November election.

Moore claimed that he interviewed the staff at the time he took office and was looking for people with certain skills, skills that other candidates matched better than Snelling and Vavasseur. When asked if there were any political motivations behind firing Snelling and Vavasseur, Moore said, “absolutely none.”

The hiring of Snelling also was a source of controversy. Snelling was originally hired as a circuit court bailiff in June 2008, but at a salary of $30,000; the normal starting salary for court bailiffs was $24,000.

Snelling’s salary was later reduced, but controversy surrounding its approval erupted because Snelling’s father, Monty Snelling, was a member of the Clark County Council and voted for the ordinance approving the pay rate.

In addition, Snelling was the only male bailiff and was being paid $6,000 more than the other bailiffs, raising questions of gender-equity.

“When the judge [Abe Navarro] came in and hired my son, I had nothing to do with it,” Monty Snelling said. “Navarro and my son had been friends for years ... and they [those opposed to the hiring and pay] tried to make it political.”

Monty Snelling, who originally introduced the ordinance, later called it a mistake to participate in the vote, which was 6-1, according to previous reports in The Evening News.

“I can’t say that it was because of job performance because they were fired on the first day,” Fox said.

“We’ve done a lot of corrective stuff, so in hindsight I think I’ve made the right decision,” Moore said.

Moore referred to having to correct problems discovered since taking over the Circuit Court office. Complaints listed in a fax to The Evening News of uncompleted tasks included, among others: failure to issue jury summons for the coming quarter; failure to file documents and pleadings in pending files from the second week in November 2008 through the end of the year; a warrant not being withdrawn in a felony case; and an error in paperwork, in which a sentence was supposed to be four years, was instead listed at 20 years, naming Vavasseur as the preparer of the paperwork.

“The irony of this particular series of events is two very qualified people were fired and replaced by [Snelling and Vavasseur],” Moore said.

Moore has hired four new employees in the Circuit Court office — two other former Circuit Court employees transferred to Superior Court. Of the new hirees, three have more than 10 years experience in the court system, with the fourth employee having experience as a document tracker, real estate manager and with information technology.

Clark County disagreed with its place in the suit as county attorney Greg Fifer moved to dismiss the charges. He is arguing the county has no control over the employees, merely that they are paid through county funds.

“Despite the fact they get paid through county funds, they are employees of the state,” Fifer said. “The county has no ability to hire or fire these people.”

Fox has said because the county did pay the former employees, they are tied to the suit.

Indiana also has been listed in the suit because the plaintiffs were state employees. Because the state is a defendant, the case has been moved to a federal U.S. District Court in New Albany.

No court date has been set.