CLT lawsuits costing taxpayers millions of dollars
City employee advocate says city treats taxpayer funds like “Monopoly money”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (HERE News) – A HERE News Investigation reveals lawsuits filed against the City of Charlotte are costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Records obtained by HERE News show the city has faced hundreds of lawsuits over the past decade but some of the most expensive litigation wasn’t included in the records.
Self-Inflicted Costs
Charlotte Firefighters Association President Tom Brewer believes the cost faced by taxpayers is self-inflicted by city leaders. “The city’s playing with Monopoly money. It’s taxpayer money, and they don’t care,” Brewer said of city leaders. Brewer has been involved in more than a dozen lawsuits filed by his members against the city.
That includes the case of Sylivia Smith-Phifer, who spoke with HERE News in 2022 about her allegations of retaliation from the Charlotte Fire Department. Records from the City of Charlotte show her case alone has cost Charlotte taxpayers more $626,000.
Hidden Costs
Records provided by the city show that 325 lawsuits have been filed against the city since 2014, costing taxpayers nearly $34 million. But the records provided by the city are missing major cases according to HERE News’s research and Brewer. “I think the numbers are even worse than what they claim on the spreadsheet they gave you,” Brewer told a HERE News reporter.
In 2023, the city agreed to pay $106 million in a settlement after losing two lawsuits involving Charlotte Water. That cost was mostly passed onto the water company’s ratepayers. The city says they only sent us records from the risk management department, even though HERE News’s records request asked for everything. HERE News hasn’t received the rest of the records.
Opaque Practices
Some of those costs are caused by the city’s inability to produce public records. The City of Charlotte was sanctioned twice by a federal judge for withholding records. Recently, a judge ordered the city to pay $125,000 in attorney fees to HERE News after losing a lawsuit over public records.
“One of the people in every single one of our cases, we have requested emails and text messages from Manager Jones. They’ve never been turned over,” Brewer said. “That’s the city manager. That’s the highest-ranking official.”
HERE News contacted a spokesperson for the City of Charlotte for a comment but did not receive a response by the publication of this story. “It’s their strategy, it’s their tactic, it’s ignore people that bring up issues,” Brewer said.
Employee Concerns
Fourteen lawsuits have been filed since 2014 naming the Charlotte Fire Department, costing more than $300,000 per lawsuit on average. Brewer says all of those were filed by people employed by the fire department at the time.
“None of the individuals wanted to sue,” Brewer said. “They followed the city’s grievance process, they followed the city’s appeals processes, and, in every instance, they were denied justice.”
In 2023, City of Charlotte union leaders called for a workers’ bill of rights for employees facing investigation and termination. Charlotte Firefighter Association Local 660 union leaders told HERE News the current investigation process is chaotic and discourages employees from being whistleblowers. The proposed employee bill of rights was never adopted by the city council.
Call for Accountability
Brewer says his union members who end up suing the city are often painted as disgruntled employees. “All they can do is discredit the person and say that they’re disgruntled. Well, they’re disgruntled because they were denied due process,” Brewer said.
Brewer says Charlotte voters should pay attention to how much it’s costing them to fund the city’s lawsuits. “It’s their tax dollars. City council, the mayor’s office, and city officials are abusing their tax dollars,” Brewer said.
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