COEUR d'ALENE - A former Worley Fire District division chief filed a lawsuit complaining he was fired after a labor organization was formed in which he became president and chief negotiator.

The plaintiff, Timothy McDermott, was hired by the district in September 2012, and other fire district employees began forming a collective bargaining labor organization in March of last year. Local 5005 was then formed last summer to bargain with the fire district on wages, working conditions and conditions of employment.

In September, the fire district, which is governed by Commissioners Ron Hise, Ed Joy and Gary Dreschel, "reached a tentative agreement as to the terms of the first collective bargaining agreement between Local 5005 and the fire district," according to McDermott's complaint in 1st District Court. It was filed Monday.

On Nov. 11, McDermott was fired.

"Later that day, while McDermott was collecting his personal belongings from the fire station, he had a conversation with Chief (Dan) Sneve," the lawsuit said. "During the conversation, Sneve informed plaintiff McDermott that he was terminated because his actions irritated defendant Chairman Hise."

Along with the district, the commissioners are listed as defendants in the case.

McDermott's attorney, James Piotrowski, was unavailable for comment Thursday.

"This is the first I've heard of (the lawsuit)," Hise said Thursday. Hise said the district employs six firefighters, a fire chief, part-time deputy chief, and an administrative assistant.

The lawsuit said McDermott raised concerns in negotiations with Hise and the district regarding lack of training for employees and deficiencies in shift staffing levels. Hise was the district's chief negotiator during the collective bargaining negotiations, the lawsuit said.

On Nov. 19, McDermott received a letter from Hise alleging the fire district board decided to eliminate the position of "division chief/public information officer," which McDermott had occupied.

"Chairman Hise's letter also alleged that the elimination of McDermott's position, a division chief position, was intended to allow the fire district to hire a division chief/medical services officer and two additional firefighter/EMTs," the lawsuit said.

The district didn't offer any of the positions to McDermott.

The lawsuit claims that after McDermott was fired, the fire district "engaged in regressive bargaining by denying that the parties reached a tentative agreement and instead sought to reopen and alter collective bargaining provisions on which the parties had already reached agreement."

McDermott's complaint claims the district failed to bargain in good faith and violated Idaho's anti-discrimination law.

The district's actions "have chilled and deterred McDermott and other district employees from exercising their constitutional rights to freely associate, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution," the lawsuit claims.

It said the Idaho code makes it unlawful for an employer to threaten or discriminate against an employer for his support of a labor organization.

He has lost pay and career opportunities and dealt with "emotional distress, personal and professional humiliation, (and) career damage," the lawsuit said.

McDermott asks for his job back, back-pay compensation and attorney's fees.

He also asks for a permanent injunction requiring the district to finalize and implement the collective bargaining agreement "previously reached between the fire district and plaintiff Local 5005."