Perkins suit claims wrongful termination

LACONIA — The former chief deputy of the Belknap County Sheriff’s Department is suing Sheriff Michael Moyer and the county, alleging that he was forced out of his job because he wanted to run for sheriff against another ranking department officer whose candidacy Moyer is supporting, according to the suit.

The suit by David Perkins, filed Wednesday in Belknap Superior Court, names Moyer and Belknap County as defendants. Perkins alleges he was wrongfully terminated, and deprived of his rights under the state’s Whistleblower Protection Act, and the Public Employee Freedom of Expression Law.

The termination was due to Moyer's retaliation against Perkins because of the latter's desire to run for sheriff against department Sgt. William Wright, the suit alleges.

In the suit, Perkins, through his attorney Peter Anderson, seeks compensatory damages due to emotional distress and harm to Perkins’ reputation, in addition to court costs and attorney fees. Perkins is requesting the case be heard by a jury.

Moyer condemned the suit as baseless and politically-motivated.

“This is their October surprise,” coming just one week before next Tuesday’s election in which Wright is being challenged by Richard Robinson, Moyer said. “It reads like very good fiction,” he said of the claims laid out in the 27-page civil complaint.

The suit reiterates many of the allegations that The Laconia Daily Sun reported in May – namely that Perkins ran afoul of Moyers after the chief deputy raised questions about the integrity of the Sheriff’s Department’s Drug Task Force which Wright heads. Among those allegations is that Perkins became the target of a smear campaign orchestrated by Moyer because the sheriff wanted Wright to succeed him.

Moyer has denied favoring Wright’s candidacy.

The suit states that Perkins had an excellent record with the Sheriff’s Department from 2001 when he joined the department right through June 2019 when his latest evaluation stated he was doing “an outstanding job.” But the suit alleges that changed at the end of June 2019 when Perkins told Moyer he was interested in running for sheriff, at which time Moyer said Perkins “should not run against Sergeant Wright, who was also running, and told Perkins that he should retire instead.”

A little more than one month later the relationship between Moyer and Perkins allegedly deteriorated further, when Perkins urged that an internal affairs investigation be undertaken to determine if Wright had acted improperly in connection with a drug case in which the suspect had a personal connection with a Tilton police officer who reached out to one of his department colleagues who also serves on the Sheriff's Drug Task Force. That second officer then contacted Wright about the matter.

Moyer, who was on vacation at the time, told Perkins to hold off initiating any investigation of Wright. Perkins followed Moyer’s instructions, but told the sheriff he disagreed with his decision, the suit states.

At the end of August 2019, Moyer told Perkins that Wright had filed a formal complaint against him, accusing Perkins of “lying and fabricating an unauthorized internal affairs investigation” against Wright and as a result the sheriff was initiating an internal affairs investigation into Perkins’ actions which would be conducted by the Strafford County Sheriff’s Department.

“This entire complaint has always been politically motivated,” Wright said Wednesday when reached for comment.

He said that he followed department policy when he was contacted by the Tilton officer. Wright, who was home on sick leave recuperating from pneumonia, said he told the officer he was not on duty and directed the officer to contact the detective on duty.

“I didn’t perform any off-duty investigation,” Wright said. He provided The Daily Sun with a copy of a letter dated March 19, to the Sheriff’s Department signed by Stafford County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Paul Callaghan stating, “I found no wrongdoing on the part of Deputy William Wright.”

After Moyer told Perkins he was under investigation, the chief deputy turned to County Administrator Debra Shackett, who advised Perkins to file a hostile work environment claim, the suit alleges. The following week, the suit continues, Shackett told Perkins that she had spoken to Moyer about the hostile work environment claim, whereupon Moyer allegedly told the administrator that he could fire Perkins for discussing the matter with her. But Shackett told Moyer “not to terminate (Perkins) and told the sheriff she had felt there was a hostile work environment at the department even before she had spoken with (Perkins about his concerns),” the suit alleges.

Shackett, in an email, declined to comment on the suit, saying she had not seen it and further that she had not yet had a chance to consult with the county’s defense attorney.

The initial investigation into Perkins concluded that he had not violated the “rules on truthfulness and abuse of process.” But it did find that he violated “rules on dissemination of Information and Insubordination,” because of text messages Perkins sent to his wife which were uncomplimentary toward the sheriff and Wright, the suit claims. However, Perkins' position is that the text messages were outside the scope of what he had authorized investigators to examine on his phone.

Days after returning from his suspension, Moyer told Perkins he was being placed on paid leave while another internal probe was conducted for a range of allegations, including unbecoming conduct, public statements and appearances, dissemination of information, political activities, insubordination, and gifts, gratuities, bribes or rewards were investigated, the suit says.

When Perkins’ attorney challenged Moyer's ability to be neutral and impartial in an investigation that involved disparaging comments about him, the sheriff replied “that to have another agency conduct the investigation would take too much time.”

On March 6, Perkins’ lawyer sent Moyer a letter charging the sheriff was engaging in “retaliatory conduct” and that if the sheriff terminated him he might sue him for “wrongful discharge and under the Whistleblower’s Protection Act.”

Nine weeks later Perkins sat for a third interview with an independent investigator regarding the claims made in his March demand letter.

The suit states that neither Perkins nor his attorney provided The Daily Sun the demand letter which was the basis of the paper’s two-part series about the issue in mid-May. The suit goes on to say that based on second-hand information “the letter was leaked to the newspaper by someone in the County."

The decision to terminate Perkins was made no later than May 27, the suit states, and on June 4 he gave his notice to resign.

“He did not want to leave law enforcement and only did so because of the illegal and retaliatory actions of Sheriff Moyer. The endless investigations, leaked to the press, made it impossible for Mr. Perkins to find a job in law enforcement,” the suit states.

“It’s no coincidence that this is coming out now,” Moyer said of the suit. “I’m very much looking forward to getting up, under oath, and testifying.”