It was the second lawsuit brought by Wright against the county and its commissioners since April 22, when he was suspended for alleged mismanagement.
The suspension was based on the preliminary findings of a 2 1/2-year investigation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that alleged widespread fraud during Wright's stewardship of the department.
Wright denies any wrongdoing and blames Commissioner Joseph M. Hoeffel 3d for setting in motion a series of false charges against him to HUD officials and to the public.
Hoeffel and other county officials could not be reached late yesterday.
Wright had been Montgomery County's housing services director for two years, although he had worked for the county in other capacities for a total of 17 years. The first suit, filed on April 29, sought reinstatement, maintaining that he was denied a fair hearing before and after his suspension. Wright was formally dismissed on June 13.
This latest lawsuit, filed by attorney Theodore Q. Thompson, claims that Commissioners Mario Mele, Richard Buckman and Hoeffel conspired to harass and intimidate him. As the only black employee to become a department head in the county, the suit says, he was targeted in part because of his ``proactive stance on matters which directly affect [him] and other black employees of the county'' and for blowing the whistle on the ``political favoritism practiced in Montgomery County for those who are favored by and support defendants and the county Republican Party.''
In the period leading up to his suspension, the lawsuit says, the operations of his office were disrupted because of harassment by the county commissioner staff, ``thus creating a hostile work environment for [him] and other black employees.''
``The purpose of the public accusations . . . and [Wright's] being suspended . . . was to let other employees know, particularly black employees, that they too would be punished if they were too outspoken,'' the suit says.
