A federal judge heard arguments on Wednesday as to whether the former Charlottesville police chief's lawsuit should be dismissed against some or all the defendants. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Judge Norman K. Moon presided over a virtual, two-hour hearing on Wednesday morning, as multiple attorneys argued that the complaints against all the defendants should be dismissed.
Former Police Chief RaShall Brackney's $10 million lawsuit, filed in June, alleges that the city of Charlottesville, nine current or former city officials, and a leader of the Virginia chapter of the Police Benevolent Association discriminated against her based on race, color, and gender; and broke other laws regarding employment, whistleblower protections, and defamation.
Moon did seem inclined to drop the complaints against the individual city leaders, saying that even if their actions were wrong, they were acting [quote] "in the scope of their employment," [end quote] and so could not be sued separately from the city itself.
Melissa York, representing the city of Charlottesville and all the city officials except for Chip Boyles – the former city manager who actually fired Brackney – said that the city's leadership supported the chief's decision to discipline problem officers, but [quote] "she was terminated because of discontent and distrust" within the department.
A key allegation of Brackney's attorney, Charles Tucker Jr., was that city leaders directed and/or conspired with the Police Benevolent Association leader, Mike Wells, to conduct a survey casting Brackney in a bad light because [quote] "they needed a reason to fire Chief Brackney for doing her job." [end quote]
Moon has not yet made a determination on the motions for dismissal, and a clerk of the court told WMRA that the time it takes to make such decisions varies depending on the case.
