William Jay Reynolds, who lost his job as an administrative law judge in the Secretary of State's office soon after Republican Tre Hargett took charge of it last year, has sued Hargett for retaliatory discharge amid claims that he was ousted for political reasons.

In a complaint filed Friday at Davidson County Chancery Court and available at this link (with apologies for the poor quality of the pdf file), Reynolds asserts Hargett violated his oath of office by getting rid of him "in furtherance of the interest of the Tennessee Republican Party and for personal political gain."

Reynolds also claims Hargett violated the Tennessee Disability Act when he cited slowness in completing judicial orders as the cause for the firing. Reynolds has a prosthetic leg and says his condition "makes traveling more difficult and requires more time than someone without a disability."

Reynolds says he "was asked to communicate with" newly elected Rep. Vance W. Dennis (R-Savannah) in January 2009 "about the candidate for whom Rep. Dennis would vote in the election for constitutional officers, specifically the Secretary of State."

Just after this encounter, according to the complaint, Dennis alerted House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower about it.

Who asked Reynolds to meet with Dennis and what the men discussed when they did meet is not stated in the filing. It says only that "Reynolds made no false allegations concerning any job-related matter to Mr. Dennis."

Mumpower told Dennis not to discuss the matter with anyone else, the lawsuit says, and then he "directly communicated the nature and substance of Mr. Reynolds' discussion with Rep. Dennis to Mr. Hargett, as well as to Republican Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey."

The following month, Hargett fired Reynolds.

The former judge asks for front and back pay as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Gary Blackburn and John Ray Clemmons of Blackburn & McCune, along with local attorney Chip Throckmorton, filed suit on behalf of Reynolds.

Contacted this morning about the case, Hargett, Dennis and Mumpower all declined to comment.