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Firefighter, county settle lawsuit

Debra W. Buehn
Posted 10/26/16

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A lengthy legal battle between a paramedic-firefighter and Clay County has been settled through mediation.

The Board of County Commissioners approved the settlement …

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Firefighter, county settle lawsuit


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A lengthy legal battle between a paramedic-firefighter and Clay County has been settled through mediation.

The Board of County Commissioners approved the settlement agreement and release in the case of Kevin Mobley versus Clay County at its Oct. 11 meeting by a vote of 4-0. Diane Hutchings, chairwoman of the BCC, was absent.

There was no discussion between the board members in attendance concerning the issue, which was presented by county attorney Courtney K. Grimm.

Mobley, the plaintiff in the action, expressed relief that the case was at long last finished.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” he said. “It shouldn’t have taken 5 ½ years to settle.”

Even though Grimm was not a part of most of the case as she just started as the county attorney a couple of months ago, she, too expressed satisfaction that it had come to a conclusion.

“I’m glad that we could get it through mediation,” she said.

The total settlement is valued $77,897.97. The breakdown includes Mobley being paid $51,382, of which $37,882 is back pay (and to which the county’s retirement contribution and FICA payment will be made) and $13,500 in mileage reimbursement.

In addition, a payment of $15,000 will be made in attorney’s fees to Mobley’s lawyer.

Mobley had been seeking, among other things, a declaratory judgment that he is not an employee of Clay County when volunteering with the Keystone Heights Volunteer Fire Department. Mobley has said that the Clay County fire chief had a verbal policy that if any of the department’s employee were off the clock and volunteering for KHVFD, they had to enter that volunteer time on their county card if they were employed by Clay County.

The case stemmed from an incident that occurred in 2011.

Mobley, who had worked in a paid position for Clay County Fire Rescue since August of 1996, had also volunteered for years on his days off for the Keystone Heights Volunteer Fire Department where he served as the volunteer fire chief.

According to Mobley’s attorney, John Middleton, Mobley was responding to a call in 2011 for assistance in a serious car accident in Bradford County. A Clay County fire captain ordered Mobley off the call but he stayed because a Bradford County volunteer fire official at the site asked him to remain.

Mobley was consequently disciplined for not following orders, Middleton said.

“He was demoted from lieutenant to fireman – a permanent demotion which means you can’t get anywhere – and took a 22 percent pay cut,” he said.

In the case, Mobley claimed several of his rights guaranteed by either the Florida or the U.S. Constitutions were violated by various actions of the county, including paying him overtime as a volunteer for the KHVFD. He also sought to enjoin Clay County from disciplining him while volunteering for KHVFD.

Many of the points involving KHVFD are moot, said Middleton, as that group essentially no longer exists. On April 15, 2013 Clay County Board of County Commissioners, at the direction of County Manager Stephanie Kopelousus and Fire Chief Lorin Mock, cancelled the contract between the Keystone Heights Volunteer Fire Department and Clay County, according to the KHVFD website. According to Mobley, the KHVFD is in the process of being absorbed by the Bradford County volunteers.

Middleton said he views the county’s actions as a “power play” to control volunteer workers.

“To me, it was a power play by the Clay County fire department,” he said.

Both Mobley and Middleton said they thought the process to settle the case had taken an unusually long amount of time.

“The county fought it every step of the way,” Middleton said.

As part of the settlement, Mobley was required to resign, which he did Oct. 11. He said he plans to pursue the self-employed teaching career he has been following for the past 15 years, teaching classes to those seeking certification in CPR, first aid and fire officer’s certification. Over the years, he said he has taught hundreds from both Northeast and Central Florida.

He also plans to continue his volunteer work.

“I have every intention of volunteering for Bradford County,” he said.