Traverse City Record-Eagle

Benzie County

November 5, 2009

Former administrator sues over dismissal

By ART BUKOWSKI

BEULAH -- Former Benzie County Administrator Chuck Clarke sued his ex-employers, and alleged commissioners fired him in violation of his contract.

Clarke, 61, served as administrator from 1998 until August, when commissioners ousted him. The multi-count suit, filed on Clarke's behalf by Beulah attorney Dennis Swain, alleges breach of contract, denial of due process and violation of a law designed to protect military veterans.

Clarke filed a protest with the county shortly after his termination. He contends the Michigan Veterans Preference Act required the county to hold a hearing before firing him because he is a United States Marine Corps retiree.

Benzie Prosecutor John B. Daugherty determined the law didn't apply to veterans who serve as department heads, and rejected Clarke's protest.

Clarke's suit contends the law applies to him, and states commissioners violated his rights by not holding a hearing before firing him. They also fired him "without notice and without cause," according to the suit, an alleged breach of Clarke's employment contract.

The suit demands Clarke be reinstated and paid wages dating to his August termination, or given pay and benefits he would have received through the expiration of his contract on Sept. 30, 2010.

Clarke couldn't be reached for comment, and Swain declined comment.

The county isn't surprised by the suit, county attorney Richard Figura said.

"At the time he was terminated, his attorney indicated there would probably be litigation; everybody anticipated that," he said. "My position hasn't changed -- I don't think he was covered by the veteran's protection act, and I don't think the county did anything wrong in his termination."

Clarke came under fire this year after a citizen alleged he may have violated the state Freedom of Information Act, and prior to that drew scrutiny for his handling of a telephone bid contract in which he acknowledged violating the county's sealed bid process.

Those issues weighed on commissioners' minds when they voted to fire him, they said, but didn't directly lead to his termination.

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