Firefighter involved in Spotsylvania lawsuit feels actions were justified

Wayne Usher struggles to explain how he feels today about his 1998 lawsuit against Spotsylvania County.

“I like to think I made a difference,” he reflected in a recent interview. “I couldn’t definitely say that I did.”

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In 1998, Usher was a career firefighter and paramedic who had been with the county for eight years when he decided to create a Web site highlighting the lackluster response times of the volunteer crews responsible for answering calls on nights and weekends, when no paid forces were employed.

The volunteers often had to drive in from home when a call went out. Their response times were weaker than those of the paid responders, a disparity he felt the public should know.

The Web site, which later became the center of a $1 million lawsuit between Usher and his employers, told viewers that most fire stations were rarely staffed outside of the career crew hours. It provided information about each station’s staffing levels, as well as contact information for the county supervisors.

According to an affidavit submitted by Usher’s supervisor and excerpted in court documents, the site infuriated the volunteer crew members, some of whom threatened Usher with bodily harm or refused to work in the same station as him.

Usher said he was finding fault with the county, not the volunteers. He said he felt the volunteer squads needed more support from the government and hoped that by spotlighting the issue with his Web site, he could help stir calls for change.

“Honestly, I thought it’d be very popular and get sweeping support from the citizens of the county,” he said. “It turned out to be very anti-climactic.”

Usher was fired for posting the site a month after it went up. He later sued the county — including then-county administrator Kimball Payne, who now is Lynchburg’s city manager — on the grounds his termination violated his right to free speech.

The case was settled out-of-court under confidential terms. Usher did not return to his job with the county, but said that was his choice.

“After all of the publicity, I thought it would be too uncomfortable to stay there … I thought it was better to move on.”

Usher and his family have stayed in Spotsylvania County, and he now works as a paramedic for a Richmond company. He also serves as president for a volunteer rescue squad in Henrico County.

“I love being a volunteer and giving back to the community,” he said. “I don’t have anything against volunteers. At the same time, I thought (Spotsylvania) should be supporting them a lot more.”

At the time these events were unfolding, The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg reported that Usher appealed his dismissal to Payne, but lost.

Asked how he remembered the former county administrator today, Usher said he felt Payne had acted “professionally” and offered praise for his overall performance in the county.

“Kim Payne was a great guy,” he said. “Everybody liked him. He was a good administrator and managed the county well.”

Usher looks back on this period of his life with mixed emotions, but remains sure that the county was wrong to fire him.

“I was absolutely 100 percent right to say what I said,” he said. “Everything I provided was public information.”

He added he did learn through his lawsuit that a public employee’s speech is not without restriction and advised other employees considering speaking out to consult an independent attorney first.

“I found out free speech isn’t as free as people think,” he said.