The state auditor's office says an employee asked for a voluntary layoff, changed his mind and then filed suit because he fears a layoff.
Attorneys representing the auditor filed a motion Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Darryl Black, an assistant state auditor who says his bosses have targeted him because his is a Republican.
Black claimed in his suit that his bosses approached him about a buyout and mentioned that involuntary layoffs were impending, which Black took to mean that his days at the office were numbered. A spokesman for Auditor Beth Wood said the office has a different interpretation how talk started about the buyout, known in state government as a Reduction in Force or RIF.
"This fella came to us and asked for a voluntary RIF, which involves us paying severance pay among other things and health benefits and we agreed to that and go back to him with the paperwork, and all of a sudden he's changed his mind," said Dennis Patterson, a spokesman for the office. "And now we're being sued for trying to accommodate him."
Patterson said that under Republican Auditor Les Merritt, Black had quit his job and returned a day later. He was hired back with the understanding that he would find a new job.
"We inherited this fellow," Patterson said. "Party registration is simply not a factor. It's competence."
Black's attorney, Michael C. Byrne of Raleigh, said "They are free to characterize their actions how they wish and we look forward to seeing how they are characterized under oath in a court of law."
More after the jump.
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Black's suit follows one filed by Landi Vance who was laid off from the office in June after 23 years as an administrative assistant. Vance, 56, said she believes she was laid off because she is a Republican.
Patterson said the office doesn't check on registration, but a significant percentage of the staff is likely Republican.
"Accountants are kind of like bankers. By nature they're fiscal conservative folks," Patterson said. "If we set out to hire nothing but Democratic auditors we'd have an awful time trying to fill the complement."
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Re: Auditor disputes employees claims
I know Landi Vance and I know she was targeted because she supported Les Merritt. These examples are just a small part of the thousands of examples of Democratic corruption and pay to play that exists her in NC. I personally heard from Beth Wood's own mouth that she would clean up the Auditor's office. That struck me as a insane comment from a candidate since the Auditor's Office was doing audits on state corruption that the Attorney General was ignoring.