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Milwaukee County removed veteran sheriff's dispatcher Don Busche from his job in November 2008 after supervisors concluded he cut off a 911 caller during a dispute.

Busche worked in the communications division of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, the unit that answered 911 calls for the county. The office of Sheriff David Clarke said Busche disconnected a person who had called for help while an argument was still going on.

Busche said he was fired for another reason. He said the dismissal was retaliation for a complaint he had filed with state officials about conditions inside the dispatch center, including air quality that he said aggravated his asthma.

The communications division operated out of the Milwaukee County Safety Building in downtown Milwaukee, where sheriff's telecommunicators handled the county's emergency traffic.

Clarke, who ran the operation, was already a divisive figure in county government, and in later years he became a nationally recognized conservative commentator and speaker.

Audio connected to the case was distributed at the time by a public-safety trade publication that reported on the firing.