City asks judge to throw out Brackney lawsuit
More than two months after former police chief RaShall Brackney filed a $10 million lawsuit against the City of Charlottesville—and 10 current and former city officials—alleging she was wrongfully terminated based on her sex and gender, the city has asked a federal judge to dismiss the suit.
According to The Washington Post, the city’s attorney David Corrigan claimed in a court filing submitted on August 30 that then-city manager Chip Boyles terminated Brackney, the city’s first Black police chief, “to ensure the viability” of the CPD, which was plagued with “chaos and upheaval” under her leadership. “The imminent threat of departures of important CPD leaders [and] the ongoing strained relationship between Brackney, City leadership, and community stakeholders” also fueled Boyles’ decision, Corrigan wrote.
He argued that Brackney’s suit does not prove the city discriminated against her based on her sex and gender, and it should be dismissed.
In her lawsuit, Brackney accuses the city of firing her in retaliation against her efforts to reform the CPD, including disbanding the SWAT team, ending the department’s relationship with the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Task Force, and disciplining and firing officers for severe misconduct. She claims two defendants created an internal survey of officers to elicit negative responses about her, and other defendants later used the survey results to get her fired.
In addition to listing the city as a defendant in her suit, Brackney also lists Boyles; current and former City Council members Lloyd Snook, Sena Magill, and Heather Hill; Mike Wells, president of the Police Benevolent Association; Bellamy Brown, former chair of the Police Civilian Review Board; former assistant police chief Jim Mooney; current acting Police Chief Tito Durette; City Attorney Lisa Roberts; and former city communications director Brian Wheeler.
When questioned about Brackney’s firing last September, Boyles admitted that the CPD’s survey—as well as the Police Benevolent Association’s survey, in which most survey respondents criticized Brackney’s leadership and reform efforts, C-VILLE reported last year—influenced his decision. In press conferences, Brackney’s attorney has emphasized that the PBA survey was commissioned shortly after Brackney had disbanded the SWAT team and disciplined multiple officers for misconduct.
However, Corrigan claimed in the court filing that, though city officials supported Brackney’s decision to dismantle the SWAT team, the former chief never addressed the department morale issues brought up by the anonymous surveys. When Boyles asked the former chief to craft a plan to fix these issues, Brackney first told him she did not need a plan, then later asked him what should be in the plan. (Brackney disputes these claims, according to The Washington Post.) After learning that multiple CPD leaders—at least 10, Boyles claimed in a Daily Progress op-ed last September—planned to leave their positions, Boyles soon fired the chief, wrote Corrigan.
Brackney’s attorney Charles Tucker asserts that the court filing shows “the law is on our side.”
“[The city] had an opportunity to file an answer to our complaint where they could have either admitted or denied allegations, all of which we have factual evidence to support,” he told The Washington Post. “Instead, they’ve filed a motion to dismiss, basically saying that even if our assertions are true, we have no case.”
In brief
Police kill fugitive
A multi-jurisdictional U.S. Marshals Task Force, including an Albemarle County police officer, shot and killed 60-year-old Andrew Ainsworth, who was wanted for a federal probation violation, in Albemarle County the night of August 29. Police say they located Ainsworth—whose most recent address was in Omaha, Nebraska—while he was driving eastbound on the U.S. 250 bypass and tried to initiate a traffic stop, but he “attempted to evade them,” according to an ACPD press release. Police chased Ainsworth until he crashed on the Fontaine Avenue ramp to the Route 29 bypass. As police approached his car, Ainsworth fired a gun at them. Three officers returned fire, and Ainsworth died at the scene. Per protocol, Virginia State Police is investigating the shooting.
Dollars for dogs (and cats)
The Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA is hoping to raise over $17,000 to replace life-saving equipment, including a fluid pump, scale, and pulse oximeter, reports CBS19. Visit caspca.org to donate to the animal shelter.
Pain doctor sentenced
Albemarle County pain doctor Mark Dean was sentenced to 40 years in prison last week for sexually assaulting a female patient—however, all but 12 years and 10 months were suspended, reports the Daily Progress. In April, the 54-year-old was found guilty of inserting his fingers into a patient’s vagina without her consent at an appointment in 2017. Dean has been charged with sexually assaulting multiple female patients between 2011 and 2017, and will go to trial again in October.