North Myrtle Beach officials, who had planned to fire William Bailey last spring for lying about a crime, now are accusing the former public safety director of lying to them about his plans to retire.
The accusations are included in court documents the city filed this week in its legal battle with Bailey, who is suing the city for alleged defamation and violations of his constitutional rights.
The city is accusing Bailey of fraud and defamation in counterclaims filed this week, calling his conduct so extreme and outrageous as to exceed all possible bounds of decency.
Kenneth Moss, a Little River lawyer who represents Bailey, called the fraud claim "ridiculous," adding that Bailey has not made any misstatemnts to city officials.
The city is asking for unspecified actual and punitive damages and it wants a judge to dismiss all of Baileys claims.
The citys fraud claim stems from a contentious period in late April when former City Manager John Smithson gave Bailey an ultimatum to either resign or be fired.
The city says Bailey lied about his plans during an April 30 telephone call with city officials. Bailey said during that conversation that he needed more time to consider Smithsons ultimatum, according to court documents.
The city later learned that Bailey had already filed his retirement paperwork with the S.C. Retirement System when that telephone conversation took place.
Smithsons ultimatum followed months of debate over whether Bailey had lied about the circumstances surrounding the theft of his city-issued police handgun.
Smithson retired earlier this month.
Read more details in Thursday's edition of The Sun News
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