Former Montgomery County Inspector General Tom Dagley abused his post while trying to secure an employee a 22-percent pay raise, asserted county officials, though Dagley said his efforts were justified and the charges were being made in retaliation for prior investigations.

At a heated county Ethics Commission hearing Monday, Associate County Attorney Christine Collins said Dagley threatened to investigate salary practices in the county’s Office of Human Resources if Director Joseph Adler did not grant then-Deputy Inspector General Christopher Giusti a 22-percent pay raise.