OLDHAM COUNTY, Ky. — Oldham County and the police department are wrapped up in a battle about age discrimination. Officer Dennis Clark, with West Buechel Police, claims Oldham County Police didn't hire him for a position because of his age.
Thursday afternoon, the attorney for Oldham County PD spoke out to say age was not a factor in the hiring decision.
"Oldham County doesn't discriminate and we had well-founded reasons for not choosing officer Clark to serve our community," attorney Carol Petitt said.
Clark originally sued the police department, claiming police chief colonel Greg Smith told him he had "younger guys in the pipeline" while Clark was trying to get a job at the department last year.
Petitt said every OCPD applicant must go through the same background check, .and that's when she said several "concerning" Facebook posts were uncovered.
"Seemingly making light of the use of force that sometimes is necessary during an arrest," Petitt said.
She described several pictures posted to Clark's personal Facebook page, as well as a training video posted to Clark's personal business page.
One of the pictures Clark posted in 2016 shows a skeleton with a gun pointed in its mouth. It shows a comment by Clark reading "That's right Skip. Damn, I miss those days when we got answers that way."
Clark's attorney Joseph Gaines said on the phone Thursday morning the posts were meant in a "joking" nature. He said Clark meant them to only be shared among Clark's fellow cops and servicemen. But the Oldham County officials don't find them funny.
"These types of social media posts which advocate those types of bad decisions, we can't stand for that in Oldham County Police Department. I want you to think about how you would feel if you were detained or your loved ones were detained with someone who advocates this type of behavior," Petitt said.
OCPD is asking a judge to dismiss the case. Meanwhile, Clark's attorney said all of the county's information is "false." Gaines said it's "at best misdirected and at worst misleading."
A judge will look at the case again May 24th at the next motion hearing to decide how it will move forward.
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