DMV boss defends firing

A whistle-blower is depicted as someone who drew complaints about his actions

N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Bill Gore and four of his employees sought Wednesday to paint a different picture of a former assistant district supervisor who was fired six months after blowing the whistle on an improper hire and an underworked emissions staff.

At a hearing held to appeal Ken Cassidy's dismissal, Gore said he did not dispute the problems Cassidy raised which became the source of two News & Observer reports last year. But after the articles were published, Gore said he had received complaints that Cassidy had sexually harassed an employee and used rough language in front of another at the Raleigh district office.

That, Gore said, led to his order in January that Cassidy have no on-the-job contact with emissions specialists across the state. Cassidy complied for more than two months, but ultimately violated the order when he learned the man improperly hired for an emissions specialist job had resigned. Cassidy told the employee he was sorry about the resignation and wished him well. Gore then fired Cassidy.

"I made it clear to him that I was trying to establish peace and harmony in the workplace," Gore testified.

Cassidy testified that the allegations were lies and mischaracterizations, and his 17-year-work history reflects no such misconduct. His attorney, Michael C. Byrne of Raleigh, suggested Gore gave the allegations credence so he could isolate Cassidy and make it impossible for him to keep his job.

"This was an order that absolutely set up this man for failure," Byrne said.

Cassidy, 53, told The N&O that the emissions specialists in Raleigh, who make sure garages are performing proper inspections, had so little work to do that they sat around the office many afternoons. The N&O found that the state has enough emissions specialists that they could perform little more than one audit per day and still cover every garage in the state. Each audit takes 45 minutes to two hours to perform.

Gore testified Wednesday that he did not have the authority to reduce the emissions staff because they are part of a federally mandated program supported by inspection fees.

Cassidy also told The N&O that the friend of the DMV director who oversaw the emissions program, John Robinson, had been hired over a more qualified person. The N&O learned that the normal hiring process had been circumvented to allow the friend to win the job. The SBI later confirmed the allegations, causing a DMV assistant supervisor to be dismissed and a deputy director to resign.

Cassidy was not identified in either story, but emissions specialists in the Raleigh office suspected he was the original tipster.

One of those specialists is Debra Dunston.

She admitted Wednesday that she, too, was troubled by the light workload, but Cassidy had no business making it public.

"You were mad that he took it outside the family, so to speak?" Byrne asked.

"Yes sir," she said.

Two months after the news reports, Dunston complained to Gore that Cassidy had sexually harassed another emissions specialist in the Raleigh office. Dunston said the complaint had nothing to do with her suspicions that Cassidy had blown the whistle.

Gore said he had received a previous complaint that Cassidy had called other DMV workers a vulgar name. He said the complaints led him to order Cassidy not to interact with any emissions specialists.

The sexual harassment was not investigated until after Cassidy protested his firing.

At Wednesday's hearing, Angela White, 55, testified that Cassidy followed her around the office "like my shadow" and often put his hands on her shoulders. She said he tied a scarf around her neck on one occasion, lifted her by the belt loops several times and squeezed her wrist so hard on another occasion that she was nearly in tears.

Cassidy said the only allegation that White made that was partly true was that he crossed a scarf that was around her neck.