A Vietnam veteran who was terminated as city maintenance supervisor by the mayor of Copperhill has won a judgment in Federal Court.
A jury awarded Paul Hunter $350,000. Judge Sandy Mattice will also consider what amount of "front pay" he should receive as well as attorney fees. Front pay is the amount he would be expected to earn from the date of the trial until retirement at age 66. He is now 61 and was 58 when he was terminated in 2009.
The suit was filed on grounds of age discrimination and disability (due to a severe hearing loss from Vietnam).
The jury found on the ground of age discrimination and thus did not get to the disability issue.
Attorneys Harry Burnette, Donna Mikel and Bill Payne said Cecil Arp, after he became mayor, held a public meeting and announced that Mr. Hunter was going to retire. The attorneys said Mr. Hunter had no desire to retire, noting he had not reached retirement age and he was not yet eligible for Social Security. He had been with the city for 25 years.
They said Mayor Arp met with the plaintiff and told him he could either resign, take disability or be fired. He would not resign and was terminated.
Attorneys said the mayor had called Mr. Hunter "obsolete" and "over the hill".
Some City Council members had taken up for Mr. Hunter, but the decision was not overturned.