The Olmsted Township Board of Trustees and Fire Chief Patrick Kelly are accusing former Chief John Rice of misconduct in office, and "gross neglect of duty" that could cost Rice his job.
Rice, who was demoted to assistant chief in February 2015, will have a chance to respond to the 14 charges during a disciplinary hearing Wednesday evening.
Rice said the charges are retaliation after Rice called for an investigation into Kelly's behavior as chief in January.
"These charges are unwarranted," he said. "Chief Kelly is trying to terminate me because he knows if I'm terminated, then he'll have a secure position with Olmsted Township."
Kelly and trustees said that Rice conducted unauthorized investigations into Kelly, and involved members of other fire departments and Olmsted Township police.
Rice is accused of using another firefighter's username and password to access other firefighters' personnel files, including Kelly's.