Peterborough’s former recreation director is continuing to challenge the town’s decision to fire him last year, alleging in court documents the town disliked him mixing his volunteerism with the local Boy Scout Troop with his recreation duties.
Jeff King has filed a wrongful dismissal suit against the town, and is seeking payment for accrued unused leave time. The suit which was originally dismissed by the Hillsborough County Superior Court, but King has since appealed that decision, and the case is currently scheduled for a jury selection in May of 2021.
In court documents, the town of Peterborough states that they investigated King after receiving complaints from members of the public, and during the investigation, found photographs that Deputy Town Administrator Nicole MacStay found “prurient” on his computer. King has denied that the photographs are inappropriate, and said that they were taken at the town pool, which he oversaw as part of his duties, with parental permission for posting on the town’s social media sites.
In an amendment to his complaint, King said the true issue was the integration of his volunteer work with the local Boy Scout program into the recreation department, an issue he alleged he clashed with MacStay over in “extended and heated” discussions. According to King’s complaint, after those discussions, King believed MacStay developed an “animus and bias” toward him.
The town states that MacStay had conversations with King, in which she “told [King] that he keep separate his job duties with the town from his volunteer work with scouting programs,” and that King appeared upset during the conversation, “avoiding eye contact and looking away from Ms. MacStay during discussions about this decision.”
King argued that MacStay’s investigation was biased and that she viewed evidence “based upon a personal and highly subjective bias,” and that King did not have sufficient opportunity to counter any witnesses or complaints made to the town, or present witnesses in his support during the investigation or while disputing the recommendation of his termination.
The town has denied that it was under obligation to present King with those opportunities, and denies that the investigation was biased.
Jury selection in the case is scheduled for May 17, 2021, with a jury trial currently scheduled for the weeks of May 17 and May 24, 2021, at the Hillsborough Superior Court in Manchester.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.