He’s appealing the court’s March decision that awarded him back pay for years that remained in his three-year contract. Landers, an Army veteran and lawyer, seeks clarity regarding the amount owed to him.
At the time of the lawsuit’s filing nearly four years ago, board members on the service commission included Frederico Rojas, William Fried, Ashley Webb and Jerry Hays.
Montgomery County Veterans Service Commission Executive Director Kim Frisco declined to comment about the lawsuit and its allegations, citing the pending litigation.
Visiting Judge Jonathan P. Hein in March ruled that the veterans service commission must pay $1,500 in civil forfeiture penalties and award Landers back pay based on the time remaining in his three-year contract, ruling his firing “a void action” because it wasn’t done in accordance with Ohio open meetings law.
While working as executive director, Landers’ salary was $120,000 following a $10,000 raise. His contract was set to end in June 2021.
2019 investigation
On Aug. 12, 2019 the Montgomery County Veterans Service commission’s board voted to place Landers on administrative leave to complete an investigation into a complaint made by an employee.
According to documents in his personnel file, the complaint against Landers was made by one of his employees who alleged Landers created a hostile working environment on July 31, 2019.
“The veterans service commission investigated the complaint and concluded a hostile work environment did exist along with other grievances,” according to a Ohio Department of Job and Family Services request for separation information, filed by the Montgomery County Veteran Service Commission in June 2020. “Mr. Landers had been reporting to the commission for months that the Veterans Service Commission Office was operating smoothly and efficiently under his leadership, which was not the case.”
Landers rebuffed these allegations in an interview with the Dayton Daily News. He said he noticed multiple issues as he began his job as executive director of the veterans service commission in 2018, including a work culture filled with “gossip and innuendo.”
He said he made management decisions to address these issues. This included a change to the scheduling system employees used to make appointments with clients, a mandated daily report that detailed completed and uncompleted tasks and more.
On Sep. 11, 2019 Landers said he met with two board members at a local library. He claims that during this meeting, he was told the board would be terminating his employment.
According to court documents, attorneys representing the board argued that this meeting included conversations to remedy complaints about management and to “seek an amicable separation.”
On Sept. 12, 2019, a termination letter was sent to Landers, stating his role with the veterans service commission would end the following month.
On this same day, the veterans service commission met during its regular meeting, where it went into executive session to discuss a “personnel matter.” The court found issues within the commission’s meeting minutes, including “the complete lack of any substantive details about business items discussed and decided by the Board which would explain to the public the reasons for the decisions.”
The court ruled the Sept. 12, 2019 executive session was “clearly unlawful” because the board used a non-statutory reason to enter the session.
Landers said that as of this week, he has not received any payment from the Montgomery County Veterans Service Commission, a sum he said should be “significant.”
The Army veteran said he feels his character was attacked at the time of his 2019 firing.
“I’m really not one to brag. But I know I did a good job there,” he said. “The number of veterans that we were seeing increased over 300%. I was going out into the community. I cared.”
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