Former Belknap County Sheriff's Department chief deputy sues county, former boss

LACONIA – The former second-in-command at the Belknap County Sheriff’s Department has sued the county and his old boss alleging wrongful termination and violations of both the whistleblower-protection act and the public employee freedom-of-expression law.

Filed Tuesday in Belknap County Superior Court by David Perkins, who was chief deputy to Sheriff Michael Moyer until late May, the lawsuit asks the court to schedule a jury trial and to enter judgement against the defendants “in an amount to be proven at trial, plus damage pre-judgment and post-judgment interest as to all claims.

Perkins said he was forced to resign.

Additionally, the lawsuit, which names Moyer as a defendant both individually and in his capacity as sheriff, seeks enhanced compensatory damages and all costs and attorney’s fees.

On Thursday, Moyer who was first elected sheriff in 2016 but is not seeking re-election, said he’d read through some of Perkins’ lawsuit, observing that “It reads like a fiction novel.”

Read more: https://www.unionleader.com/news/courts/former-belknap-county-sheriff-s-department-chief-deputy-sues-county-former-boss/article_245ac51a-346d-5df9-8c6f-21b5205158d2.html