MANCHESTER — Former interim director of the Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Department Charles DePrima has made a demand of settlement more than $226,000 to compensate for his alleged wrongful termination. DePrima also says he was overlooked for a job that he claims went to a less-qualified candidate.

The city has referred the case to its insurance adjuster Mark Fraser of Fraser Insurance in Concord.

“We have been in correspondence with Mr. DePrima. I can’t disclose more than that because it’s an active claim,” said Fraser.

DePrima sent the demand to the city June 4, giving 10 days to respond. Failure to do so would “result in an aggressive lawsuit” seeking more than $600,000 in damages, DePrima wrote.

“I am not going away. These claims are not going away and further, swift and thorough legal action will be taken if a settlement cannot be reached,” wrote DePrima.

City Solicitor Tom Clark said cases like this are referred to the city’s liability insurance carrier, which will conduct the investigation and determine if a claim should be paid.

If the claim is denied, Clark said, DePrima can then opt to file a lawsuit against the city for damages. If a suit is filed, the case will likely be handled by the city’s outside counsel, Robert Meagher of McDonough, O’Shaughnessy, Whaland & Meagher law firm in Manchester.

DePrima’s claims

In his demand of settlement, DePrima claims Alderman At-Large Dan O’Neil interfered with the job selection for Chief of Parks, preventing DePrima from getting the job despite having served three years as the interim director. DePrima alleges O’Neil pressured officials to hire current Chief of Parks Peter Capano to make up for Capano missing out on another Public Works jobs given to O’Neil’s cousin, Tim Clougherty, two years earlier. This interference violated both the charter’s rule against elected officials getting involved in departmental hirings, and charter rules against nepotism, DePrima said.

DePrima also alleges he was wrongfully terminated when let go from the recycling coordinator position in Sept. 2010. According to city officials, DePrima failed to obtain a required certifications, but DePrima submitted a New Hampshire Employment Security form that shows the state determined DePrima was eligible for unemployment benefits because he was dismissed “for reasons other than misconduct.”

Email evidence

To further show O’Neil was involved in Public Works hiring, DePrima included in his claim portions of an email correspondence between DePrima and Public Works Director Kevin Sheppard

“Here is my stab at replying to Dan’s (O’Neil) request to ‘create’ a job for me should the chief of parks not be a viable option. I appreciate your offer to review it for me and help but I also feel it’s necessary since I am committing resources from the highway division to make it work,” DePrima wrote to Sheppard on April 17, with a list of his accomplishments as interim director.

On April 28, Sheppard replied, “Let’s discuss this when you get back.” There is no other mention of the matter until May 3, according to documents the New Hampshire Union Leader obtained through a right-to-know request of Sheppard and DePrima’s email correspondence at the time. On May 3, DePrima again asked Sheppard about O’Neil’s offer, to which Sheppard tells DePrima to stop by his office.

Sheppard never explicitly confirms in the emails an offer made by O’Neil, but does not indicate that DePrima’s assessment is wrong either.

Both O’Neil and Sheppard deny there was any interference with the hiring process for the two positions.

Mayor Ted Gatsas had no comment on the matter.

Damages

DePrima is seeking $170,450 for two years in back pay and $5,200 for three months of salary not paid in full during the last months of his former interim position.

DePrima is also seeking about $2,800, equal to two years of city retirement benefits, and $20,000 for “severe emotional damage and stress to myself, my wife and our children.”

If the city rejects the settlement claim, DePrima wrote he would move forward with a lawsuit seeking more than $600,000 in damages for not only those claims, but for loss of their home due to financial hardship, medical bills incurred due to loss of health insurance and damages for “certain actions and statements by elected officials of the City of Manchester that became accessible by potential employers via the Internet.” DePrima claims these statements played a role in his being unable to find employment for nearly two years after his termination, which caused financial and emotional distress for DePrima and his wife Samantha DePrima, former Marketing Director of Intown Manchester.

Although these actions and statements are not specified, DePrima was mentioned in a number of Union Leader reports regarding his interim position and the consolidation of the Parks Department.

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Beth LaMontagne Hall may be reached at bhall@unionleader.com.