Former deputy files suit against county

SANDPOINT — A former deputy who was fired after running against former Sheriff Elaine Savage is suing Bonner County for wrongful termination.

Rocky James Jordan’s lawsuit also alleges county officials intentionally interfered with his economic prospects, subjected him to an investigation on trumped-up claims and deprived him of his constitutional right to due process.

Counsel for Jordan and his wife, Cathy, filed the civil complaint in 1st District Court on Friday. It seeks unspecified compensation for lost wages and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Although the allegations mostly revolve around a former sheriff’s administration, Jordan is pursuing his claims under a legal doctrine which holds that an employer can be held responsible for the on-the-job conduct of its employees.

Pamela Allen, the county’s director of personnel and risk management said the county does not comment on pending litigation.

Jordan, 59, and Savage, 55, were Republican candidates in last May’s tumultuous, five-way primary race. The GOP nomination ended up going to Daryl Wheeler, who was ultimately elected to office.

Jordan alleges in the suit that he was improperly reprimanded for confronting a landowner about a vicious dog while campaigning a few days before the primary. The landowner, who had a dislike for law officers, threatened to bash Jordan’s head in with a piece of dimensional lumber, the suit said.

Jordan’s Boise attorneys, Joe Filicetti and Robert Huntley, argue their client had done nothing wrong as he was off duty and exercising his constitutional rights by running for public office against Savage.

Jordan was cleared of wrongdoing through an Idaho State Police investigation, but Savage placed him on probation for unbecoming conduct and discourtesy, the suit said.

Jordan was next improperly reprimanded and then fired following the arrest of a Clark Fork woman on a no-contact order violation, the suit alleges. The suit does not specify what Jordan was accused to doing to warrant a reprimand and Filicetti did not respond to a message seeking comment on this point.

The suit said Wheeler sought the revocation of Jordan’s law-enforcement credentials prior to taking office. Wheeler said Monday he cannot comment on the litigation.