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GREENSBORO - Veteran officer Julius Fulmore sued Greensboro, its police department, former Chief David Wray and a half-dozen other current and former officers Thursday, claiming they orchestrated a years-long conspiracy to damage his career.

In Fulmore's 11-page lawsuit filed Thursday morning, he accuses officers Scott Sanders and Brian Bissett of being the instigators of a conspiracy that was run with the knowledge of high-ranking police officials, including Wray, and that invaded his privacy.

Fulmore claims the disparate treatment, the result of professional jealousy, started in the mid-1990s when he was working on a federal drug task force.

Fulmore says he was not the only victim of the conspiracy and that other black officers were also targeted.

Attorney Seth Cohen, who represents three of the men named - Bissett, Sanders and former Deputy Chief Randall Brady, called the lawsuit "outrageous."

"It is completely frivolous," Cohen said. "It's undisputed that serious allegations were being investigated."

Cohen said his clients were looking into those allegations involving Fulmore alongside other agencies. The Guilford County Sheriff's Office, the SBI and federal authorities joined Greensboro police in investigating claims about Fulmore, Cohen said. No criminal charges were ever filed against him.

Kenneth Keller, an attorney for Wray, said he does not believe a conspiracy existed and for that reason Wray did not know about one or approve of one.

"I don't think the case is well-founded, and it won't be able to go forward," Keller said. "But we'll see."

Fulmore's attorney, Amiel Rossabi, said he stands behind the allegations and that the lawsuit is based on a thorough investigation.

The lawsuit cites the following as examples of the conspiracy and intrusion into Fulmore's privacy:

l Sanders paid criminal informants to try to sell stolen goods to Fulmore. Fulmore discovered the payments later when looking at Special Intelligence Division records.

Cohen, Sanders attorney, denied that allegation calling it "absolutely false."

l Fulmore was issued a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development computer while working on a HUD task force. That computer was seized and broken into by Greensboro police.

l Private investigator Art League - also named as a defendant in the lawsuit - was paid by Greensboro police for surveillance of Fulmore. The surveillance was performed by Randy Gerringer, a former police officer who worked for League. Gerringer is also named as a defendant.

l Employee and personnel files of black officers, including Fulmore, were examined by Sanders and Bissett while Sanders was assigned to the Special Intelligence Division, which is separate from Internal Affairs.

l Fulmore also raises the issue of a line-up book that contained photographs of black officers, often referred to as the "black book." Fulmore claims the book, which contained his photograph, was used "to embarrass, frame and even wrongfully charge" black officers.

Fulmore is seeking more than $20,000 in damages.

City Attorney Linda Miles said she could not comment on the suit because it is city policy not to discuss pending litigation. Calls to attorneys for the police department and other officers involved were not immediately returned. A message left for Gerringer and League at League's office was not returned.

The lawsuit also says that Fulmore filed a complaint in April 2006 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about the police department. He has not yet received a right-to-sue notice, which is typically a precursor to a discrimination lawsuit, from the EEOC.

The suit comes a year and a half after Wray resigned. He left office in January 2006 after an investigation by an outside firm, Risk Management Associates, into allegations of misconduct within the department.

The lawsuit also names former Assistant Chief Craig Hartley and Lt. Craig McMinn as defendants. Efforts to reach both were not successful. Hartley now works for the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.

Contact Jonathan Jones at 373-7077 or jjones@news-record.com