“The Metropolis Supervisor made the troublesome resolution to terminate Brackney’s employment to make sure the viability” of the Charlottesville Police Division, wrote legal professional David Corrigan, who declined an interview request.
It was the town’s first response to her lawsuit.
Brackney sued in June, saying she was pushed out for disbanding the SWAT crew and disciplining and firing a few of its officers. An inside probe discovered that members used work telephones to make crass racial remarks, share a lewd video, and make threats towards fellow officers and the division brass, amongst different points.
Brackney claimed the strikes upset the native Police Benevolent Affiliation (PBA), which put stress on metropolis officers to take away her.
Corrigan pushed again on that narrative in his submitting, writing that metropolis officers supported Brackney’s actions towards the SWAT crew. He wrote that she failed to handle morale points revealed by a PBA survey of officers and a separate inside one, which discovered widespread dissatisfaction with division management.
Shortly earlier than her firing, Corrigan wrote, then-Metropolis Supervisor Chip Boyles requested Brackney to draft a plan to handle the simmering downside, however Brackney instructed him she didn’t want a plan after which requested him what one ought to include. Brackney mentioned that account of the assembly was inaccurate.
Quickly after, in line with the submitting, Boyles discovered that high officers have been planning to go away the Charlottesville police drive, main him to fireplace Brackney for concern of dysfunction inside the division.
Corrigan argued within the submitting that Brackney’s lawsuit needs to be dismissed as a result of she had not demonstrated that she had been discriminated towards primarily based on race or gender.
Charles Tucker Jr., an legal professional for Brackney, mentioned the town’s submitting was a dodge.
“That they had a possibility to file a solution to our grievance the place they might have both admitted or denied allegations, all of which we’ve got factual proof to assist,” Tucker mentioned. “As a substitute, they’ve filed a movement to dismiss, mainly saying that even when our assertions are true, we’ve got no case. I consider the regulation is on our facet.”
Charlottesville employed Brackney within the wake of the infamous 2017 “Unite the Right” rally, the place white supremacists marched by means of the town’s streets and brawled with counterprotesters, leaving one lifeless and dozens injured. Metropolis officers wished Brackney to revive belief within the police division, which didn’t include the mayhem, and produce reforms.
Mike Wells, the president of the native PBA, is the tenth individual named within the lawsuit. Wells, who isn’t represented by Corrigan, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Tuesday.
