Former Rockingham firefighter Rodney Gandy says he will no longer pursue jobless claims against the city after a second state officer denied his claim.

However, he and his union vowed to continue its legal battle to get him and Local Chapter President Robbie Barber their jobs back.

Gandy remains the treasurer of the Local Chapter 4702 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a group made up of 10 current and former members of the Rockingham Fire Department.

“It was fine, I accept the judgment,” Gandy said of the denial of unemployment benefits last week. “All the unemployment benefits I get now, I’ll just have to pay back when I get my job back anyway.”

Gandy appealed an earlier decision the city made to fire him before the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina, Again he was denied in a letter dated Oct. 9.

“The claimant is disqualified for unemployment insurance benefits beginning April 26, 2009, and shall remain disqualified until all requirements of the law are met,” the judgment read.

“They’ve made their decision,” Gandy said. “I did draw it for a little while, until the city decided to appeal it, but in a couple of months we’ll have been back in got and arbitration coming up, so that should be interesting.”

He said he has moved on to that court battle.

The original decision Gandy appealed showed he was suspended before joining a firefighter union for failing to respond to turn-in alarms.

“It is concluded from the competent evidence in the record that the claimant showed a pattern of failing to respond to turn-in alarms, after written warnings and with knowledge of his duties as a fire fighter,” hearing officer Michele Jacobs wrote in the original decision. “This pattern over a four-year period was a willful and wanton disregard for the employer’s interest.”

Gandy has said he was told to take his radio to church with him, which he found unconscionable.

The original judgment also made reference to a claim by Gandy his radio equipment malfunctioned, which was rejected by the hearing officer.

Gandy also made an apparently misleading statement in a previous interview that firefighters weren’t disciplined for failing to turn in to fire alarms before the lawsuit was filed against the city.

In a Thursday interview, he stood by his statements despite the apparent contradiction.

“I’ve seen many times when firefighters missed alarms and nothing was said,” Gandy said.

He also stood by his assertion that he and Barber were fired in retaliation to the lawsuit being filed.

Dave Anders, the president of the IAFF’s state affiliate the Association of Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics, confirmed the union is continuing its battle to put Gandy and Barber back on the force of the Rockingham Fire Department.

“We’re going to keep fighting this until justice is done, and they get their jobs back,” Anders said. “These guys were fired unjustly.”

“This is far from the end,” he said at another point in the conversation. “We are standing behind the local chapter 100 percent.”

Rockingham City Manager Monty Crump recently confirmed the two positions have been filled with full-time firefighters.

The original lawsuit filed by 10 members of the Rockingham Fire Department in March against the city claimed the plaintiffs were owed back pay related to the on-call policy of the city.

It has since been amended to include claims of retaliation for the lawsuit by city officials.

In addition to the firings of Gandy and Barber, who were both ranking officers in the union’s local chapter structure, press releases from the IAFF have claimed retaliatory acts of discipline against other firefighters.

Since the lawsuit was made public, the union has issued several press releases criticizing the termination of Gandy and Barber, and accusations other unionized firefighters have been singled out for retaliatory disciplinary actions.

Throughout the course of events, the city has maintained the firefighters were fired for cause.

n Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.