Former R.I. official sues Raimondo and state agency, saying he was fired for being Republican

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The former executive director of the state Department of Administration is suing the state, alleging that Governor Raimondo and Michael DiBiase, department director, removed him from the job he held for eight years because he is a Republican.

Ronald Renaud filed suit in Providence County Superior Court over DiBiase's decision in March 2015 to abolish the executive director position. Renaud had held that job since 2007, when he was hired to succeed Jerome F. Williams as a top deputy to Governor Carcieri's director of administration. Renaud is a former Republican town councilman in North Smithfield.

The state, Raimondo and DiBiase are named as defendants in the lawsuit seeking a $500,000 judgment plus unspecified punitive damages, costs and legal fees.

The state is asking Judge Michael A. Silverstein to dismiss the matter, arguing that Renaud has not exhausted his administrative remedies, including taking his complaint to the Personnel Appeal Board. It also charges that Renaud doesn't have a viable claim under state fair employment law or the state Civil Rights Act. 

According to the lawsuit, DiBiase, working with Raimondo, laid Renaud off in March 2015, claiming to have eliminated the executive director position. Renaud charges that it was a "mere pretext," that they established a position with the same job description and subsequently hired someone who was less qualified to fill it.

Renaud alleges that, in doing so, they violated his constitutional rights by illegally terminating him. He asserts a right to an "expectation of continued employment, without regard to political affiliation or activity."

DiBiase, director of the Department of Administration and a Republican himself, said to The Journal last September that Renaud and two others who were laid off — Jack Landers and Ken Kirsch — "did not fit where I wanted to go."

Carole Cornelison was hired June 7 as the $138,157 director of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, following a public hearing process to create the role. Renaud had been the $142,818 director of operations, which oversaw capital assets.

Governor Raimondo's office declined comment through a spokeswoman. The attorney general's office, which is representing the state, also declined comment.

Renaud's lawyer, Gerard M. DeCelles, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

-With reports from Journal staff writer Katherine Gregg