Fraud: City of Muscle Shoals & David Osborn?

We're adding a special post to our series on fraud...and a question mark since this will be determined in the courts. Has Muscle Shoals pulled the proverbial insulating wool over the eyes of its citizens by hiring an unqualified inspector? We can't say definitely that the city has done so, but if it's true, we're not surprised. Here's a copy of Mr. Billy Underwood's latest complaint against his favorite Colbert County town:

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COLBERT COUNTY, ALABAMA

ALVIN BUTLER CHARD and

JOSEPH MOON, and JOSEPH MOON

AS FATHER AND NEXT BEST

FRIEND OF CHANDLER MOON,

age 13 years, a student in the Muscle

Shoals City School System

VS. CASE NO:______________

CITY OF MUSCLE SHOALS,

MAYOR DAVID BRADFORD,

COUNCILMAN JOE PAMPINTO,

COUNCILMAN NEIL WILLIS,

COUNCILMAN JIM HOLLAND,

COUNCILMAN ALAN NOLES,

COUNCILMAN MIKE LOCKHART,

all being members of the City Council

of Muscle Shoals, Alabama

AND

LEON MADDEN, WES EMMONS,

RAY EGGLESTON, MIKE PRICE,

DONNA TIPPS, being members of the

Muscle Shoals Civil Service Board

AMENDED COMPLAINT AND PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS

The City of Muscle Shoals’ attorneys have insisted on a complaint with

specificity. The Plaintiffs thus file this amended complaint.

Plaintiffs incorporate all the allegations of the initial complaint filed on or about

the 7th day of October, 2013 and state as follows:

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1. That on the 22nd day of January, 2013, the Mayor of Muscle Shoals, being David

Bradford signed the necessary paperwork outlining the minimum requirements for a

posted job, being Code Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas Inspector. The position would be

under the City Clerk and it is enclosed as Exhibit One of this amended complaint.

2. The job description stated inter alia that one of the minimum requirements for

the job of Code Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas Inspector was the requirement that the

applicant possess a master gas and plumbing cards.

3. This job description deterred many individuals from the City of Muscle Shoals

and Colbert County from applying for the job, as they did not have a master gas and

master plumber license.

4. Your plaintiffs, Alvin Butler Chard and Joseph Moon, both had master gas and

master plumber licenses.

5. There were over nine applicants for the job, one of whom was Milton David

Osborn, whose brother works for the City of Muscle Shoals and it is alleged his brother is

a very good friend of Mayor David Bradford.

6. That on or about the 5th or 6th day of April, 2013, the Muscle Shoals Civil

Service Board was meeting the same night as the City Council of Muscle Shoals. The

Muscle Shoals Civil Service Board was going to entertain and interview three applicants

for the posted job by the City of Muscle Shoals which contained the minimum

requirements for said hiree as a Code Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas Inspector before their

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regular on-the-record meeting.

7. The City Council of Muscle Shoals was having a work session. That is, all city

council members were present including the mayor, all department heads of the police

department, fire department, recreation department, city clerk, and street and sanitation

departments. Leon Madden, who is a member of the Muscle Shoals Civil Service Board,

came into this work session and approached all the council members asking them, “Are

you sure the minimum requirements for the hire in the Code Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas

Inspector is a requirement for a master gas and plumber card?” At that time, Councilman

Mike Lockhart addressed Leon Madden and said that the City Council had voted on those

requirements and those were the minimum requirements for the hire of a Code

Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas Inspector. Leon Madden left the meeting with the knowledge

that the minimum requirements for the hire, as told to him by Mike Lockhart in front of

the City Council, Mayor, and the City Clerk, were the possession of a current master gas

and plumber card.

8. After posting the minimum requirements, the Muscle Shoals Civil Service

Board voted that night to hire David Osborn, who did not have a master gas nor master

plumbers license as required in their job description which was posted to the local area

for job applicants.

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9. This is in direct violation of the minimum requirements the City of Muscle

Shoals stated would be needed for that job.

10. This is in direct contradiction of the information Councilman Mike Lockhart

gave to Madden at the work session in April, the same day that Osborn was hired by the

Civil Service Board.

11. On or about the 10th of July, 2013, Alvin Butler Chard and Joseph Moon, by

and through their attorney, sent a letter to David Bradford reiterating the failure of the

City of Muscle Shoals to hire a qualified Code Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas Inspector.

12. The Code of Alabama (1974), §34-37-16 thru 17, states anyone who works in

the City of Muscle Shoals or Colbert County who is working on plumbing and gas, that

will effect public health and welfare of the citizens in the county, must have a master gas

and plumber license. This particular act was passed by the Alabama Legislature for

Colbert County Act 87-812 in 1957.

13. There were only two people qualified for the job, according to the minimum

requirements by the City of Muscle Shoals; those being Alvin Butler Chard and Joseph

Moon.

14. Either one of those two individuals should have been allowed the job which

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pays $63,000 per year. David Milton Osborn was not qualified for the job and he cannot

enforce any codes or approve any plumbing or gas work within any incorporated portion

of the City of Muscle Shoals because he does not have a certificate of competency for

plumbing and gas fittings, medical gauge piping, or commonly known by as a master

plumber and gas card holder. The City of Muscle Shoals knows that they are in violation

State Legislative Act 87-812, as they were part of a lawsuit filed against the City of

Muscle Shoals cited at 428 So.2d Page 5 in 1985.

15. Plaintiffs Chard and Moon have damages of over $60,000, being the wage they

would have been paid, plus benefits, had the City of Muscle Shoals upheld its minimum

requirements for the hire.

16. In July of 2013, Plaintiffs’ attorney addressed the City Council pointing out to

them the mistakes made in hiring Osborn. The City Council failed to do anything to undo

the actions of the Civil Service Board.

17. Plaintiffs request that the Civil Service Board, Mayor, and council members be

mandamused to set aside the hiring of David Osborn and require the Civil Service Board

to follow the minimum mandates of their published January 22, 2013 notice requiring the

hiree for Code Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas Inspector have, at a minimum, a master

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plumbing and gas card which Osborn does not have.

WHEREFORE, THE PREMISES CONSIDERED, Plaintiffs ask that the Court

issue a writ of mandamus requiring the Civil Service Board, City Council and Mayor to

hire a qualified individuals for the job as posted by the City of Muscle Shoals, and further

pay Chard and Moon $63,000, being the salary they missed working for the City of

Muscle Shoals. Chard and Moon further request that the Court order the City of Muscle

Shoals to pay attorney fees for their attorney accomplishing a public good in forcing the

City of Muscle Shoals to hire a qualified individual to inspect gas and plumbing fixtures

that are installed in the City of Muscle Shoals.

COUNT II

Plaintiffs incorporate all the allegations in the previously-filed lawsuit and this

amended complaint and state as follows:

1. After specifically being told by the City of Muscle Shoals Councilman Mike

Lockhart that the minimum requirements for the job description called Code

Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas Inspector be an individual who had a master plumber and gas

license, Leon Madden completely disregarded said minimum qualifications and was the

deciding vote in hiring David Osborn from the three final candidates put before the Civil

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Service Board that evening. He forcefully and openly championed for Osborn to receive

the job.

2. That he acted outside his scope of employment as a Civil Service member and

knew, without any reservations, that the hiree be (at a minimum) someone who had a

master gas and plumbing license.

3. During that Civil Service Board meeting, he was the number one advocate for

the hiring of David Osborn, knowing that David Osborn did not have the minimum

qualifications for the job.

4. The vote to hire David Osborn was two to one, with Leon Madden being the

deciding vote. Leon Madden is now coincidentally the chairman of the Civil Service

Board.

WHEREFORE, THE PREMISES CONSIDERED, Plaintiffs have suffered

individual damages from Leon Madden for his acting outside his scope of his

employment with the City of Muscle Shoals by doing an act that he knew was wrong and

would harm the citizens of the City of Muscle Shoals by having a less-than-qualified

Code Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas Inspector. These damages are felt by each citizen and

Chard and Moon for failure to receive the $56,000-$60,000/year plus benefits. Chard and

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Moon pray for $60,000 in damages, individually, against Leon Madden for his intentional

failure to follow the recommendations of the City Council.

COUNT III

REQUEST FOR INJUNCTION AGAINST DAVID OSBORN FOR DOING

INSPECTIONS ON GAS AND PLUMBING WHICH EFFECTS THE PUBLIC

HEALTH AND WELFARE OF THE CITIZENS OF MUSCLE SHOALS

BECAUSE HE IS UNQUALIFIED TO DO SO

Plaintiffs incorporate all the allegations in the previously-filed lawsuit and this

amended complaint and state as follows:

1. Joseph Moon’s son, Chandler Moon, attends school in the Muscle Shoals City

School System.

2. That Joseph Moon is a resident of the City of Muscle Shoals.

3. The City of Muscle Shoals has hired a Code Enforcement/Plumbing/Gas

Inspector who is not qualified and does not possess a master gas and/or master plumber

license.

4. This individual is inspecting the school and/or houses being built in the

incorporated area of Muscle Shoals without proper qualifications.

5. Osborn should not be allowed to inspect any buildings, school buildings, public

buildings, hospitals, or any other structures for public use until he possess a master gas

and plumbers license in accordance with the Code of Alabama §34-37-1 thru 18, et seq.

6. The citizens of Muscle Shoals are in danger of faulty inspections because this

individual does not possess the proper certification and expertise to be inspecting work

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done by master gas-fitters and plumbers.

WHEREFORE THE PREMISES CONSIDERED, Plaintiffs pray, after the

Court hears testimony and the lack of proper certification and lack of a master gas and

plumbing license by Osborn, this Court decree he not be allowed to inspect anything

within the incorporated area of Muscle Shoals that concerns the health, safety, and

welfare of its citizens as it regards gas and plumbing enforcement or buildings.

Submitted this the 18th day of March, 2014.



Shoalanda