JENNINGS — A former Jennings police officer has filed a lawsuit against Police Chief Danny Semmes and the city of Jennings, claiming he was a victim of age discrimination and retaliation.

The complaint was filed May 12 by Lake Charles attorney James E. Sudduth III, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on behalf of former officer Michael T. Janise.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages including back pay and punitive damages.

Janise, 61, began his employment with the police department in 1995.

He began his most recent employment as sergeant in 2005 having also served as a lieutenant patrolman and a patrol supervisor.

Janise initially filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last May at the end of an extended medical leave.

Janise gave a deposition testimony against the police department in October 2018 in a separate lawsuit filed by a former police officer. That suit was settled out-of-court in January 2019.

Janise contends that shortly after the lawsuit was resolved he was involuntarily transferred from his patrol position to a “vehicle fleet maintenance” position by Semmes and that a younger officer was transferred from the investigative division to his patrol position.

Janise contested the transfer because of pre-existing back injuries and a nearly $2,000 per month pay cut.

Janise was also offered a position in investigation if another officer voluntarily took the maintenance position, but said he was not trained in investigations.

The lawsuit alleges that Semmes violated the Civil Service Law by transferring Janise to the maintenance position, which is not a civil service position and not considered “police work.”

The lawsuit further contends the transfer is a violation of the department’s transfer policy, which provides “any employee may be transferred from any position in the classified service to any other position of the same class within the classified service.”

The fleet maintenance position is not a civil service position and is not within the same class as the classified service.

Janise was forced to go on extended medical leave in March 2019 due to the exacerbation of his pre-existing back injury which rendered him unable to perform his duties in the fleet maintenance division.

Court papers state Janise was terminated from his employment the day after the medical leave ended. He is appealing the termination.

The lawsuit also contends the police department has engaged in a recent pattern of “forcing out” the older police officers and replacing them with younger officers.

A lawsuit presents the grievance of one party against others. It does not present both sides of the issue in question.