By Carrie Pond
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-770999.mp3
Listen to Carrie Pond's report.
Paducah, KY – The lawsuit, filed last week, alleges City Manager Jim Zumwalt has violated PHRC Diretor Stan Beauchamp's civil rights by repeatedly targeting him and his agency for budget cuts. The city's lawyer Stacey Blankenship says she's confident the charges will be dismissed, and Zumwalt has only suggested cuts because the PHRC services duplicate those of the Kentucky Human Rights Comission. "Mr. Zumwalt has always discussed with the city commission as to whether or not the Paducah HRC should be done away with. It has nothing to do with Mr. Beauchamp or his race. It has to do with the city taxpayer's money and how it should be spent appropriately." Blankenship says in 2007, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dismissed a discrimination complaint from Beauchamp, and she's confident the federal court will rule similarly. Beauchamp's attorney Roy Harris says Zumwalt suggested the city council cut PHRC funding and referenced the then-pending discrimination complaint, which he says demonstrates Zumwalt targeted Beauchamp for his complaint.