Settlement allows fired Knox deputy to resign, get $20,000 in sick pay

May 24--Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones opted not to defend his termination of a deputy and agreed in a settlement to pay him more than $20,000 in accumulated sick pay that a fired officer wouldn't have gotten.

Jones on Friday said the settlement that provided former officer Christopher Alan McNew payouts of more than $29,000 and retirement was a financial decision.

"Because I thought that was the best thing for the citizens and taxpayers of Knox County, and I have to make those decisions everyday," Jones said.

The sheriff said agreeing to pay McNew $20,251 for his accumulated 880 hours of sick leave was cheaper than the potential legal costs of defending the termination before the Knox County Sheriff's Office Merit System Council and possibly Knox County Circuit Court.

As a grade 14 employee, McNew by Sheriff's Office regulations was entitled to $11,000 for his sick pay if he left the agency in good standing. Fired employees get no compensation for unused sick days, according to the Sheriff's Office.

After taxes, McNew got a sick leave check for $12,954.54.

Knox County cut McNew a second check totaling $8,927.95 for his 364 hours of unused vacation time and 24 hours of holiday pay, records show. The check came to $5,759.32 after taxes and other deductions.

McNew submitted his resignation, effective March 28, and applied to the Knox County Retirement and Pension Board for benefits. McNew would have been paid for unused vacation time and could apply for retirement even if his termination had withstood appeals.

Knox County employees in other departments are capped at a $10,000 payout for unused sick leave upon retirement, according to Mark Jones, director of human resources and risk management. Jones oversees more than 900 employees in departments under the executive branch of Knox County government and some constitutional offices.

Eddie Daniel, a Knoxville attorney who represented McNew, said McNew opted to take the sheriff's settlement offer rather than fight to retain his job for financial reasons.

"It wasn't worth the money and the effort to fight it," Daniel said.

"My client spent almost 24 years at the Sheriff's Office without any problems and decided it was better to retire than to fight. We don't think he did anything wrong.

"Our agreement was he would get his accumulated sick pay, apply for retirement and drop his appeals."

McNew was hired at the Sheriff's Office in June 1990. On Nov. 19, 2013, Jones fired him on allegations of using the National Crime Information Center to surreptitiously check for any outstanding warrants for his son.

McNew's son, Corey McNew, now 27, was accused of spearheading a drive-by shooting July 28, 2005, in South Knoxville that left Alisha Quillen, 19, dead. Witnesses said Quillen dove in front of a hail of bullets to shield a child.

The drive-by shooting, records show, was retaliation for the beating of Corey McNew the day before during a drug deal that resulted in a robbery.

Corey McNew, who sports a tattoo of a hand grenade on his face, pleaded guilty in 2006 to facilitating second-degree murder. He was released in 2012 from prison but remains on parole. Christopher McNew said he requested a check of the NCIC database for any outstanding warrants on his son in order to have him surrender peacefully.

Jones, however, alleged Christopher McNew used another officer's call numbers while calling the NCIC operator by radio and did not inform the operator that Corey McNew was the officer's son. Jones contended that any officer who came into contact with Corey McNew would face danger if the suspect knew there were outstanding warrants for his arrest.

According to records, the FBI alerted Jones in October 2013 to Christopher McNew's query regarding his son. At the time, there were no outstanding charges against Corey McNew.

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