Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
According to John Reid, the attorney for the Town of Greenville, the town has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against the town by former Town Manager Lee Jones. “The decision is at the advice and request of the town’s insurance carrier,” said Reid. “I think this is probably for the best. If the case had gone before a jury, it’s unpredictable what a jury would decide. It could have cost much more.”
Jones, a Black man, filed the lawsuit claiming that he “has been the victim of discrimination on the basis of his race in that he was treated differently than similarly situated employees of [the Town of Greenville] who are white and has been subject to hostility and poor treatment on the basis, at least in part, of [Jones’] race.” Two out of the three council members who voted to terminate Jones in November of 2023, are also Black. Reid also stated that, in settling the suit, the Town does not admit to any wrongdoing.
The Town of Greenville also listed several defenses in their response to the lawsuit. In its response, the Town noted that, “Since Jones’ termination, the Town discovered additional wrongdoing by Jones, including extensive financial mismanagement and wrongdoing such that the State of Florida is conducting an audit, and his damages should be barred entirely.” The Town further claims that Jones “engaged in fraud, unscrupulous conduct, overreaching and other dishonest conduct that would be condemned by honest and reasonable men, including but not limited to, using Town funds for personal use, greatly exceeding his spending authority, deceptively increasing his annual salary without authority and causing the Town to suffer financial hardship and an audit by state officials.” The Town also claims Jones breached his employment contract when he reimbursed himself “for expenditures above $250 without Board approval; [did] not timely submit the Town budget; using Town funds for personal reasons not related to his position with the Town; failing to keep the Town fully advised of the Town’s financial condition; amending his contract by, for example, paying himself a higher salary than specified in the contract without written documentation signed by either him or the Town Council; and failing to maintain and produce public records as required by the agreement.”
Despite his denials to the contrary, a recent audit by the State Auditor General, request by the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, found that Jones had frequently exceeded his spending authority without the approval of the Town Council. The preliminary audit findings were released to the Town of Greenville on Tuesday, July 15. A more detailed analysis of the report will be published by Greene Publishing, Inc. at a later date.
The case was set to go to trial In August of this year.