Former Oxford Police Chief Gary Ford claims he’s owed approximately $190,000 in unpaid employment benefits.
Oxford officials claim anything Ford says he’s owed is offset by the greater amount of money his actions as chief cost the community.
It’s now up to the court to decide who’s owed what, if anything.
A pretrial examination for the case is set for Nov. 17 in Oakland County Circuit Court before Judge Rudy J. Nichols. A preliminary trial date is scheduled for Dec. 2.
Ford originally filed suit Jan. 16 in Oakland County Circuit Court against Oxford Township and Village and Oxford Public Fire and EMS Commission seeking $40,532, which he claims he’s entitled to under his expired 1997-1999 employment contract with the former Oxford Emergency Safety Authority.
That amount included $28,715 in severance pay (the equivalent of 26 weeks); $4,094 in longevity payments; $4,639 in unused vacation and holiday pay; $207 in compensatory time; $877 in personal leave time; and $2,000 in clothing and discretionary allowance.
According to OPFEC attorney Chris Lievois, Ford recently amended his suit claiming he’s also owed 3,605? hours of compensatory time worth approximately $150,000. That’s based on an hourly rate of $27.61 mulitiplied by 1? for overtime, he said.
“I have no idea where he’s coming from,” Lievois said regarding the additional $150,000. “I can’t even explain it.” Ford’s total claim against Oxford now amounts to nearly $190,000.
Lievois said OPFEC’s position is still that Ford is not entitled to any of the money, neither the original nor the amended amount, for two reasons.
First, the cash amounts and periods of work the ex-chief is claiming are “inconsistent with OPFEC’s records,” Lievois said.
“His calculations aren’t correct,” the attorney said.
Secondly, Lievois said the amounts Ford is claiming are “offset” and “exceeded” by the amount of money his actions as police chief cost OPFEC with regard to the U.S. Department of Justice’s claim that Oxford owes $136,677 for misused Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant funds.
Instead of using the grants for their intended purpose – the hiring of new, additional officers to the now-defunct, joint township-village Oxford Police Department – the Justice Department claims the money was used to replace local funding in the mid-to-late 1990s.
A counter complaint against Ford filed by OPFEC asserts the ex-chief cost the authority more than $125,000 in legal fees, damages and liabilities related to the COPS ordeal. That figure does not include the actual amount owed to the Justice Department.
The complaint alleges one count each of negligence, gross negligence, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty against Ford, who as police chief oversaw every aspect of the grant application process and acted as the grant liaison to the safety authority.
“Ford failed in his basic duties by negligently overcharging for grant expenditures, supplanting local funds with grant funds, failing to provide the (Justice Department) with a redeployment plan, failing to timely file necessary reports, failure to deploy grant officers and failing, in general, to comply with the COPS Grant obligations,” according to the counter complaint.
OPFEC’s counter complaint also stated that Justice Department officials “specifically found that in at least one instance, Ford ‘misrepresented the facts’” to them “in an effort to obtain authorizations and/or releases” from the department.
In addition to Ford’s legal battle with Oxford, the ex-chief is preparing defend himself in his second criminal trial of the year slated to begin Dec. 5 in Oakland Circuit Court. Ford faces one count each of misconduct in office (a felony) and willful neglect of duty (a misdemeanor).
In May, the ex-chief was acquitted on two counts of larceny by conversion.