By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
A Rowan County magistrate who failed to get a four-year reappointment has filed a complaint alleging age discrimination.
Fred Moore, 59, of Salisbury confirmed he filed a complaint with the Charlotte office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission earlier this week. Since he is a state employee, the complaint is against the state of North Carolina.
Moore, currently the senior magistrate, declined to answer additional questions pending the outcome of the complaint.
Earlier this month, he indicated he planned to retire at the end of April when he will be 60. Moore told the Post he would receive reduced retirement benefits.
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge John Holshouser said Friday he was unaware of the complaint.
In December, Holshouser reappointed eight of the nine current magistrates, all for four-year terms.
Following state procedure, the Clerk of Court submits a list of at least two candidates for each open magistrate’s position to the senior resident Superior Court judge during an allotted time in December.
Holshouser said Friday that Moore’s name was submitted along with three other applicants for his post.
Holshouser declined to say whether he planned to reappoint Moore for the four-year term.
“The matter was under consideration when he told me he wanted to stay on at least to have his retirement at the end of April.”
Holshouser said he has not heard of any complaints, adding the EEOC complaint “is quite a surprise.”
Moore served as a magistrate in Rowan County from 1976 to 1987, when he resigned to take a job with the N.C. Department of Labor as a compliance officer. He was appointed as magistrate in Iredell County in 1992. He returned to Rowan and will have 25 years of service as a magistrate at the end of April.
Although appointed by the resident Superior Court judge, magistrates work under the supervision of the chief District Court judge, which in Rowan is Charlie Brown.
Barger declined to release the names of the other three applicants for Moore’s post on advice of an attorney with the Administrative Office of the Courts in Raleigh.
Barger noted that several additional applications have been received.
Starting salary for the job is $32,633 a year with the ceiling at $50,000 yearly.