An assistant director at the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles filed a whistleblower lawsuit today, saying he is being retaliated against after he reported that DMV Commissioner George Tatum had sought to help a friend get a vintage truck title for a replica.
Marge Howell, a DMV spokeswoman, said division officials had not seen the lawsuit and therefore could not comment.
Shortly after making the allegation last month in a DMV memo, Joey Gardner was interviewed about it by two internal affairs officers, reports Dan Kane. Later that day, two of Gardner's superiors told him he was suspended with pay and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation. They took his badge, gun and keys to his state car.
A deputy secretary at the state Department of Transportation, which oversees the DMV, reinstated Gardner before the day was over. But Gardner, who is a sworn officer in the DMV's license and theft bureau, still does not have his gun and is still being required to undergo the evaluation, said his attorney, Michael Byrne.
"This is just blatant abuse, not only of Mr. Gardner but of this policy, which is designed for genuine mental health emergencies," Byrne said. "This is something that reminds one more of the Soviet Union than of North Carolina."
Read more after the jump.
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Byrne said Gardner is seeking a return of his gun, an end to the evaluation, attorneys fees and monetary damages from the DOT and DMV for violating the state whistleblower act. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in state court to allow Gardner to seek a return of his gun and a suspension of the evaluation while the lawsuit makes its way through the court.
Tatum denies helping his friend, Robert Kinlaw of Fayetteville, get the vintage title in early 2004. DMV records show that Tatum's administrative assistant had sent an e-mail to staff indicating that Kinlaw was Tatum's friend and needed help getting a title for a 1937 Ford truck. The initial inspection showed the truck to be a replica, but Kinlaw then took his truck to a second inspector in Fayetteville, who gave it a vintage title.
The SBI is looking into the case, at the request of DOT Secretary Lyndo Tippett.
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