After Missoula County Sheriff T.J. McDermott was found to have discriminated against political rival Josh Clark by the Montana Human Rights Bureau, Clark’s attorney Quentin Rhoades has announced the amount of money his client is requesting to satisfy for what they argue was an illegal demotion.

"When a person of the seniority of Josh Clark loses his job, it costs money," Rhoades said. "There are two aspects of that. He was going to work for another five years and then retire. The first aspect is the money he would have been paid over that period, which amounts to something like $350,000."

Clark left the Sheriff’s Department after his demotion from undersheriff to a member of the night patrol. Rhoades says Clark will also ask to be compensated for the lack of retirement income that he would have received if he had stayed on the force.

"He would have also retired at a much hire rate at the end of that period. The difference between what he is retiring for now and what he would have retired for at that time, if you add that up, and reduce it to net present value over what you would expect his lifespan to be... about 75 years... you're looking at about $750,000, so that is what we are suing for."

Clark’s attorneys say that their client suffered severe stress after the recent election and that he felt unsafe in the workplace. They claim he was put on night patrol without proper equipment: that he was given a duty shotgun, but no ammo and that he was given an expired safety vest.

 

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