An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the city of McComb has been filed by former fire chief Vernell Felder, and the city is considering a countersuit for breach of contract, Mayor Zach Patterson said.
The revelation, which came at Tuesday’s city board meeting, followed a question raised by Selectman Wade Lamb at the last board meeting about a travel reimbursement charge in the Dec. 12 consent docket.
Patterson responded then that it was related to travel to Jackson for mediation on an EEOC complaint but said he wanted to discuss it with selectmen individually before getting into the details.
He said Tuesday that Felder, who is black, had filed a complaint accusing the city of discriminating against him based on his skin color.
In June, the board voted to fire Felder but later rescinded the termination and offered him a retirement package on the condition he file no legal action against the city.
Patterson said the city attended a mediation session only to inform Felder that it would not negotiate.
The announcement about the former fire chief followed a meeting in which Selectman Danny Esch contested the reappointment of current fire chief Jean Frye and questioned the city’s hiring process.
City attorney John H. “Bubber” White agreed that the hiring process had not gone through the Civil Service Commission as it should have but did not dispute that previous hires failed to do so, either.
During discussion, Patterson said that Frye was qualified, while several other candidates were not.
White said today he wanted to make it clear that his comments were not a show of support for any person.
“I just said that the city board had not complied with civil service,” he said. “I never mentioned anything about (Chief Frye’s) qualifications.”
Frye’s reappointment ultimately passed by a 3-1 vote, with Esch voting against and Lamb abstaining.
A story Wednesday mistakenly listed the tally as 4-1. However, Selectman David Myers was absent from the meeting.
