Thursday, February 04, 1999
Lawsuit alleges fire dept. age bias
Breakup left man jobless
BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — An age and disability discrimination case involving a former employee of the Mason-Deerfield Joint Fire District goes to federal court today, but no testimony will be heard.
Frank Ziegenhardt, a former fire inspector with the joint district, is suing his former employers in U.S. District Court in what could be a precedent-setting case. He is seeking to get his job back, plus damages.
His lawyer, Jim Whitaker of Mason, filed a temporary restraining order in federal court on Friday to freeze all of the assets of the joint fire district.
Instead of hearing testimony, lawyers representing the district, Mason and Deerfield Township will meet with Mr. Whitaker and Judge Susan Dlott in a closed chambers hearing set for 3 p.m.
“The judge is most likely going to try and see if each of the parties can reach some sort of agreement to keep this from proceeding any further,” Mr. Whitaker said. “My realistic expecta tion is that there is no chance of reaching any such agreement.”
City and township attorneys were equally skeptical about reaching a settlement. They said that Mr. Ziegenhardt's age and physical condition had little to do with why he failed to land a job with either department.
“Frank is a fine gentleman, but there is no claim here that we can see,” Mason Law Director Ken Schneider said.
Mr. Ziegenhardt alleges he was passed over for positions with the new fire departments in Mason and Deerfield Township in favor of younger and less experienced firefighters. The 50-year-old disabled war veteran has a prosthesis on his left leg from a non-fire related accident in 1988. He served as fire inspector with Deerfield Township for 14 years and the joint district for three before its dissolution on Sept. 30.
“Apparently, there has never been another case in the United States like this,” Mr. Whitaker said. “This is a case where we have one legal entity dividing into two new legal entities with neither one claiming liability for the old one because it no
longer exists.”
Mr. Whitaker said someone has to take responsibility for the district's legal obligations, which is why he is attempting to freeze the remaining assets before they can be completely distributed.
“(Mason and Deerfield) don't seem to believe that they are obligated to handle the legal responsibilities of their predecessor business,” he said. “We don't want them to distribute any more assets until it can be determined if they are responsible.”
Ohio law dictates that when a joint district dissolves the last remaining government entity takes responsibility for its lingering finances. Since Deerfield Township withdrew from the joint district a year ago, Mason was dubbed responsible for paying all remaining bills, collecting leftover tax monies and distributing the existing assets.
“We have an obligation to protect the funds that belong to the joint district, so we cannot just pay those funds out unless there is a legitimate legal reason,” Mr. Schneider said. “And so far, we can find no legitimate reason to do so.
“Mr. Ziegenhardt is claiming that he was improperly dismissed, but the truth of the matter is that everyone was terminated with the dissolution of the joint district. In actuality, he fared no better or no worse than anyone else.”
But Mr. Ziegenhardt said he did fare worse. He said despite good job performance reviews, he was the only employee out of 140 left jobless.
“If Frank was such a good worker and had worked for these people for such a long time, you would think that at least one of these new departments would have had a place for him,” Mr. Whitaker said. “If it wasn't discrimination, then why doesn't this man have a job?”
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