Former police chief's suit against Red Bank to be tried without jury

Former Red Bank Police Chief Larry Sneed

The lawsuit between the city of Red Bank and its former police chief won't need a jury.

Judge John McClarty of the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that Larry Sneed's age discrimination case against his former bosses did not need a jury. McClarty cited the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act.

Red Bank's city leaders fired Sneed in July 2010, and he in turn sued the city and several of its employees. It was a wrongful discharge, he said, a violation of the Tennessee Public Protection Act. And it was also age discrimination, which is a violation of the Tennessee Human Rights Act.

Sneed wanted a jury trial. The city did not.

Red Bank filed a motion to move the case from Chancery Court to Circuit Court, and to try both cases without a jury. Originally, the court ruled that age discrimination case required a jury.