Former Akron (OH) Police Chief James Nice — who served in that role between 2011 and 2017 before being forced from the job amid accusations that he made racist remarks — filed a lawsuit on Tuesday saying that that city officials retaliated against him for not showing loyalty to Mayor Dan Horrigan.

"When it became apparent to Horrigan that Plaintiff would not submit to unmitigated and unconditional loyalty, Horrigan became bent on removing Plaintiff as police chief," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit says Kenneth Ball, now Akron's police chief and then a major, told Nice that a recording existed of Nice making racist comments about Charles Brown, the city's safety director, according to Cleveland.com.

Nice says he never made the comment and that no such recording exists. Such a recording, if it does exist, would surely become evidence in Nice's the lawsuit.