By Jennifer Fernandez
The News & Record
GIBSONVILLE, N.C. — The former Gibsonville fire chief is suing the town, saying he was forced to retire because of his age.
Clarence Owen was 66 in June 2006 when he says he retired under threat of being fired, according to a lawsuit filed last month in Guilford County Superior Court.
Owen is seeking to be reinstated as fire chief and paid for lost wages and benefits. He also says he is entitled to damages for mental anguish and/or emotional distress.
Owen, now 68, alleges that former Town Manager R. Deleno Flynn made comments about his age, suggesting he "should retire because of his age and because he was 'old,' and 'too old,' " according to the lawsuit. Owen also claims that Mayor Leonard Williams was aware of the derogatory age-based comments because he observed them or heard about them when Owen complained.
Williams declined Thursday to comment, referring questions to town attorney Doug Hoy.
Hoy did not return a call Thursday.
Owen was hired in July 1995 to be Gibsonville's fire chief, according to the lawsuit. He retired on June 28, 2006, less than two weeks after being accused of assaulting a Whitsett firefighter during a call. Prosecutors decided the contact between the two men didn't add up to assault and the charges were dropped in September that year.
Owen complained in his lawsuit that he was replaced by someone more than 20 years his junior.
The town hired Tony Roof, 45, in October 2006. He has an extensive firefighting history, with knowledge of underwater rescue as well. For 21 years, he fought fires - first as a volunteer, then as a paid worker - for what was then an unincorporated part of eastern Guilford County and now is part of Greensboro.
This is Owen's second lawsuit against the town.
In July 2007, he filed a complaint alleging Gibsonville owed him $77,385 in unused compensatory time. Town officials responded that salaried employees were not entitled to comp time. That lawsuit has not been resolved.
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