WESTBROOK – Westbrook’s mayor has fired Richard Dorr, one of three firefighters placed on administrative leave in June for alleged misconduct outside of work.

And full-time firefighter James D. Gammon is no longer on the city’s payroll as of this week, according to City Administrator Jerre Bryant.

The third firefighter, James Harbaugh, resigned earlier this month.

Dorr, 38, of Westbrook, a call company captain, was fired Friday, according to letter sent to him that day by Mayor Colleen Hilton.

Dorr was arrested in June and charged with domestic violence criminal threatening and obstructing report of a crime.

Hilton wrote in the letter to Dorr that Fire Chief Michael Pardue had recommended firing him because of the allegations and “credible concerns about your potential for violent behavior.” The mayor also wrote that Dorr had “admitted to conduct that is unbecoming of a public safety employee.”

But Dorr’s lawyer contends his client is innocent of the criminal charges and is being “scapegoated” by Hilton in an effort to appear “tough” in light of sexual harassment accusations that have roiled the Westbrook Fire Department during the past couple years.

“This is a non-problem that she can do away with and look tough without being judicious and waiting for the facts to come out,” said John Paul “JP” DeGrinney of Portland.

He said that the district attorney’s office has agreed to drop the charge of criminal threatening against Dorr. DeGrinney said that leaves Dorr facing a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a crime he didn’t commit.

“I’m very confident that his case will be dismissed,” DeGrinney said.

Tamara Getchell, business and communications coordinator for the Cumberland County district attorney, confirmed that prosecutors would not proceed with the criminal threatening charge.

DeGrinney said that Dorr, in his 20 years of service with the city, has had a “complaint-free” record. Now, DeGrinney said, he has been fired for his “wrongful arrest” by the police department.

“Given the real problems they really do have, he’s being scapegoated,” DeGrinney said.

The mayor was not available for comment on DeGrinney’s specific allegations.

The city issued a terse statement on Monday, announcing Dorr’s termination and providing a copy of the disciplinary letter Hilton sent Dorr. The termination and the letter are public record under state law, the city’s statement said.

Bryant said he had “no further comment” beyond what had been provided in the statement.

Bryant declined to comment on whether Gammon had been fired. However, Bryant confirmed that Gammon is not on the city’s payroll any longer. Gammon was on the city’s payroll as of last Friday, Bryant said.

Gammon, 46, of Westbrook, had been on paid leave since he was arrested June 25 and charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He was not allowed to own a gun after being convicted in 1983 of the robbery of a Maine Mall restaurant a year earlier.

City officials have said they were surprised to learn that Gammon was hired by the city in the 1990s after revealing on his application that he had a felony conviction. His hiring took place before current city administrators were on the job.

Gammon and Howard Reben, the attorney for Teamsters Local 340, the firefighters’ union, could not be reached for comment on whether Gammon has been fired by the city but is appealing that decision. If that is the case, any dismissal would not become public record until the appeal is resolved.

The developments regarding Dorr and Gammon are the latest since they and Harbaugh were put on administrative leave in June for their alleged misdeeds.

The action against the firefighters came just after the fire department said it had begun a positive new chapter after a department overhaul in response to charges of sexual harassment made by two female firefighters in 2008. Some firefighters were disciplined, top leadership was replaced and department members recently completed harassment prevention training.

One of the firefighters recently put on leave, Harbaugh, 39, of Portland, a call company captain, was one of seven firefighters disciplined in December 2008 following an investigation into the sexual harassment charges by the two female firefighters. He received a two-week suspension.

Then, on June 8 of this year, a woman who works with his wife filed a protection from harassment order against Harbaugh saying he had threatened her over the phone.

Harbaugh resigned July 12. He had worked for the city since 1999.

On June 25, Gammon was arrested after police say they found firearms in his Methodist Road home. Gammon’s arrest followed the arrest of Dorr, which took place three days earlier. Dorr was staying in Gammon’s home while in the process of divorcing from his wife.

On June 22, Dorr was arrested and charged in connection with a domestic incident involving his wife.

According to a protection from abuse order filed in Portland District Court by Dorr’s wife, Jennifer Dorr, Richard Dorr came to the couple’s home on Vivian Street and was yelling and screaming and frightening the couple’s two young children during a dispute over some furniture.

Jennifer Dorr wrote in the filing that: “This is not the first time he has acted like this…he has threatened to hit me but he never did. This is the first time I really thought he was going to hit me.”

Last Friday, July 23, a judge granted the protection of abuse order against Richard Dorr, according to DeGrinney. That is the date the mayor fired Dorr.

However, DeGrinney said that there was no evidence that Richard Dorr made any threat to hit his wife, which is why DeGrinney said the criminal threatening charge is being dropped. He said the district attorney’s office knew “there was no way the case would stick.”

He said the city had offered to let Dorr resign before he was fired, but he refused. According to DeGrinney, Dorr told city officials: “I’m not going to resign. I didn’t do anything wrong. If you folks wait a little bit, I will be clear of this.”

The case against Dorr is due to come up in the fall, DeGrinney said.

Instead, the mayor fired Dorr. DeGrinney suggested that the termination was related to Dorr’s objection to the mayor’s recent closing of the city’s call-company station house on Mechanic Street. Dorr said that closing the firehouse was a bad idea for public safety reasons, DeGrinney said.

The closing is part of a “unification” effort espoused by the mayor and Chief Pardue, one of two leadership consultants the mayor hired in March to revamp the fire department. It is designed to bring on-call firefighters and professional firefighters under one roof at the public safety building on Main Street, Pardue has said.

When asked why Dorr did not fight his firing by filing an appeal – which is a right of public employees in Maine – DeGrinney said that “it’s difficult to stay on in a job where the higher-ups don’t want you.”