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Lawyers for County Mayor Jerry Cunningham and Highway Superintendent Bill Dunlap are seeking dismissal of a $1.3 million lawsuit filed by an ex-Highway Department employee.

Blount County Circuit Court Judge W. Dale Young will hear the motion to dismiss at 9 a.m. on July 27.

R.L. Dowdy filed the lawsuit in Blount County Circuit Court in February. He alleges that Cunningham's 2007 decision to not reappoint him to the Blount County Fire Prevention District Board and his Feb. 6, 2008, firing from the Highway Department were part of a conspiracy.

"Beginning on Sept. 16, 2004, and ending on Feb. 6, 2008, the defendants united in their common political goal to remove plaintiff from the Blount County government and all subdivisions thereof, in order to prevent plaintiff from continuing to exercise his constitutionally protected rights and oppose the activities of the Blount County government and officials," attorney James A.H. Bell wrote in the complaint.

Prior to leaving the fire prevention board, Dowdy had been in a dispute with Cunningham about the mayor's appointment of Larry Graves to the seat vacated by Jimmy Cox, who had attempted to rescind his resignation from the board after it had been accepted by then-acting County Mayor Robert Ramsey.

The attorneys representing Cunningham and Dunlap are arguing that Dowdy's complaint does not meet legal muster.

"Dunlap asserts that the plaintiff's allegations against him fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted," wrote attorney Gary M. Prince in a motion to dismiss filed on April 27.

When contacted Friday, Dunlap declined to comment on the specifics of the litigation.

"I'm letting the attorneys handle everything," he said. "I'm not worried or concerned. I will be vindicated."

Carl McDonald of Goddard and Gamble, representing Cunningham, wrote in a separate motion that the complaint is "ambiguous" and the "defendants cannot reasonably be required to frame a responsive pleading to it."

The motion to dismiss states: "The plaintiff only alleges conclusions, not facts, that the defendants 'united in their common goal,' to remove him from county government ... , does not cite the statutory authority by which Cunningham illegally removed him from the BCFPD ..., and how Dunlap's termination of the plaintiff was based on a common intent to accomplish a common purpose."

In the lawsuit, Dowdy also claims that he knew of illegal and unethical activities taking place in the Highway Department. In the complaint, he alleges that Dunlap allowed employees to charge personal purchases to Highway Department credit accounts, used county funds to make purchases for personal use, forced employees to perform tasks for his personal benefit or that of county officials, gave government assets to private individuals, forced county employees to falsify invoices and forced county employees to pose as him while taking tests to gain certifications in his name.

The complaint described Dowdy's firing as "retaliatory."

"The defendants were aware of the plaintiff's knowledge of the aforementioned infractions. Upon information and belief, defendants became concerned that the plaintiff would report the illegal activities and/or expose the defendants' actions to the public and/or law enforcement."

The complaint said that county officials, when terminating his employment, accused Dowdy of alleged violations that "included using his work-issued cell phone too much and possessing inappropriate/distasteful e-mails. Apparently, plaintiff had used more than 6,800 cell phone minutes during a four-month period."