Why is Richmond investigating an unidentified city employee? Officials won’t say

Taylor Six
·3 min read

Richmond city officials have launched an internal investigation into an unidentified city employee for undisclosed reasons.

At a March 7 meeting, the five-person city commission unanimously voted for Richmond Mayor Robert Blythe to sign a contract to “investigate (an) internal personnel matter,” according to meeting minutes obtained by the Herald-Leader through a Kentucky Open Records Act request.

The matter surfaced after a city employee sent a confidential document expressing concerns about another city employee to commission members.

The commission includes Blythe and commissioners Mendi Goble, Jim Newby, Tammy Cole and Mike Brewer. City officials have not disclosed publicly what triggered the probe.

In a separate April 1 open records request for the documentation, city attorney Tyler Frazier acknowledged the document does exist, but it is not in possession of the official records custodian, Lisa Cassity. He denied the Herald-Leader’s request.

“Were the Official Records Custodian in possession of said document, it would be exempt from open records disclosure as it constitutes correspondence with private individuals which was 1) made with the expectation of confidentiality and 2) which expresses concerns rather than advocating for particular action,”

Numerous phone calls to Blythe and City Manager Rob Minerich were not returned.

Frazier told the Herald-Leader the city has no comment.

Richmond City Hall located on Main Street in Richmond, KY.
Richmond City Hall located on Main Street in Richmond, KY.

Pewee Valley law firm Vaughn Petitt Legal Group, PLLC was hired and Carol Petitt is the head counsel leading the investigation. Calls to the law firm went unreturned.

City documents show the law firm is charging $275 an hour for its work.

Petitt said in the agreement her firm will offer reduced rates to the city “as is (her) practice for all governmental entities.”

J.D. Chaney, the executive director of the Kentucky League of Cities confirmed the entity is not involved in the investigation but does provide insurance coverage for the city of Richmond.

“KLC provides insurance coverage and other benefits to the City of Richmond and numerous other cities throughout Kentucky, including access to outside legal counsel to provide advice and guidance to the city,” Chaney said in an emailed statement to the Herald-Leader.

He did not elaborate how much insurance would cover related to this investigation.

According to her website, Petitt has represented local governments, individuals, businesses, employees and employers in administrative and traditional judicial forums involving allegations of sexual harassment, age, gender and/or race discrimination.

She has practiced for 20 years.

What could it cost the city?

Louisville-based attorney C. Dean Furman, Jr., who works commonly on whistle-blower and fraud cases, said the hourly rate was considered low compared to other attorneys’ costs and fees.

Some attorneys for these cases can charge an hourly rate ranging from$500 and $1,500, according to Furman.

He told the Herald-Leader the overall price tag can depend on several factors including whether a deposition is taken under oath, informally, and by higher or lower-ranking attorneys investigating the claims.

Partners with the firm have a higher hourly payment rate compared to a paralegal. To continue his example, if a paralegal conducts an informal interview, this would be significantly cheaper than if a partner was to administer a deposition.

Bigger picture, Furman explained the internal investigation was a proactive step for the city. If the conclusion is that nothing is done to address the claims, employees could file a lawsuit against the city and cite officials were aware of the problem and did nothing — which would be an even greater price to pay.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Speaker kicks Poilievre out of the Commons for calling PM a 'wacko' in tense question period exchange

    Speaker Greg Fergus kicked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre out of question period Tuesday after a particularly nasty exchange with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Poilievre's day-long removal from the House of Commons came after he called Trudeau a "wacko" for supporting B.C.'s policy of decriminalizing some hard drugs in an attempt to reduce the number of overdose-related deaths.Poilievre said it was a "wacko policy" backed by "this wacko prime minister." Fergus asked him to withdraw the "un

  • Manchin vows to introduce resolution to overturn Biden permitting rule

    Senate Energy Committee Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he will lead a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to undo the Biden administration’s final rule on permitting announced Tuesday morning. “All the White House had to do was implement the commonsense, bipartisan permitting reforms in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, that all sides agreed upon, but once…

  • Democrat Crushes GOP Rival in New York Congressional Special Election

    WKBW TV/YouTubeDemocratic state Sen. Timothy Kennedy on Tuesday won the special election for the New York congressional seat vacated by a retiring Democrat, further narrowing the GOP’s slender majority in the House.Kennedy comfortably defeated his Republican opponent Gary Dickson in the race for the Buffalo-area district seat by a margin of more than 36 percentage points, according to the Associated Press. When Kennedy is officially sworn in to succeed the retiring Brian Higgins, the GOP House m

  • Hakeem Jeffries Swoops In to Save Mike Johnson From ‘Pro-Putin’ GOP

    Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty ImagesHakeem Jeffries, the House minority speaker, and other top Democrats have announced that they will come to the aid of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), agreeing they won’t let the embattled Republican lose his job.Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) put forward a motion to vacate Johnson from the speakership over a month ago, in an ultimately fruitless effort to stop the House from passing an aid bill for Ukraine.On Tuesday morning, Jeffries (D-NY), Democratic Whip

  • Poilievre hints to police he would use notwithstanding clause to change laws

    Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would use "whatever tools the Constitution allows" to pass criminal laws if his party forms the next government.Speaking to the Canadian Police Association on Monday, Poilievre promised to implement more stringent requirements for bail and make it harder for convicted murderers to transfer out of maximum security prisons."All of my proposals are constitutional," Poilievre said."We will make them constitutional, using whatever tools the Constitution al

  • 3 law officers killed, 5 others wounded trying to serve warrant in North Carolina, authorities say

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said. The officers were first shot at by the wanted suspect as they approached the suburban home in Charlotte and they killed him in the front yard, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a news conference. A second person then fired on officers f

  • Ontario to begin buying land to build Highway 413, construction slated for next year

    CALEDON, Ont. — Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province plans to begin buying up land to build a highway in the Toronto area. Ford says the province will be meeting with landowners soon to buy property at a fair market value. He says fieldwork has begun on the proposed 52-kilometre highway that will run west from Highway 400 in Vaughan, Ont., through Peel Region and southwest to Highway 401 in Halton Region, west of Toronto. Ford says early construction contracts will be awarded next year. E

  • Pennsylvania Republican Got Solar Panel Money From Biden Bill He Opposed

    Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) said the Inflation Reduction Act was “loaded with bad policy and wasteful spending.”

  • Democratic leaders say they’ll shield Speaker Johnson from Greene motion to vacate

    House Democratic leaders announced Tuesday that they will protect Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from a potential conservative coup, all but ensuring the Speaker will keep the gavel through the remainder of the term. The proclamation from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) and caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (Calif.) is a remarkable…

  • Conservatives call on Commons Speaker to resign, say he let Trudeau cross the line

    OTTAWA — Conservative MPs want House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus to resign after ejecting their leader — and not Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — during a heated debate Tuesday. The Tories say Fergus did not apply the rules equally during a tense back and forth between Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Poilievre was kicked out of the chamber after he called Trudeau a "wacko prime minister" and refused Fergus's request to withdraw the remark. His entire caucus eventually left as

  • Nova Scotia government reviewing motor vehicle inspection requirement

    The Nova Scotia government is reviewing the requirement for motor vehicle inspections, CBC News has learned.A spokesperson for the Public Works Department said in a statement that the government started looking at MVI fees at the start of the year."Government periodically receives feedback asking for the removal of MVIs and we are always assessing our programs," Blaise Theriault said in an email."No decisions have been made."In Nova Scotia, MVIs are required to be renewed every two years, althou

  • Husband shoots, kills wife and drives to sandwich shop, Texas cops say. Shootout ensues

    Officers used OnStar installed in the vehicle to track the man to the sandwich shop, police said.

  • With Bill 20, Danielle Smith sows fear and loathing (and confusion) in Alberta councils, big and small

    It's hard to get 260 Alberta municipal governments to agree on much, which is why their blanket organization seldom has anything provocative to say.What advocacy points can members as disparate as Calgary, Lethbridge, the town of Two Hills and the villages of Czar, Barons and Bawlf agree on? Safer fare, typically — suggestions that the province should consult more widely, or provide predictable funding for infrastructure, and more of it.This is why it's worth noting when the leader of Alberta Mu

  • Gangs forced out Haiti’s government. This FBI ‘Most Wanted’ gang leader claims they’re liberating the country

    A day with the notorious accused kidnapper Vitelhomme Innocent, whose armed group Kraze Baryé is among the allied gangs terrorizing the Caribbean nation.

  • Two byelections loom for Ontario; Milton race high stakes for Ford and Crombie

    Voters in two Ontario ridings head to the polls in a pair of byelections Thursday, but most eyes will be on a Greater Toronto Area town, where the tight race comes with high stakes for both the premier and the new Liberal leader. The southwestern Ontario riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex was held since 2011 by Monte McNaughton, who served in Opposition for the Progressive Conservatives and was made a cabinet minister in Premier Doug Ford's government, and it is widely expected to remain in Tory h

  • Trudeau promises to protect local construction jobs — and to hold EV plants to it

    GATINEAU, Que. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will do everything he can to protect local jobs, he promised Monday, as he met with a union concerned that foreign workers are taking Canadian jobs at a new electric-vehicle battery plant in southern Ontario. His promise came as the Conservatives pushed him to make the contracts for six major EV projects in Canada public, to show what protections they include for unionized jobs. Trudeau addressed a crowd of 500 construction union leaders from all pr

  • Toronto's police chief apologizes for comments made after man acquitted in cop death

    Toronto's police chief apologized Tuesday for how he phrased his response to the acquittal of a man accused of fatally running over a plainclothes officer, saying he understands the public concerns over his comments. Chief Myron Demkiw told the Toronto Police Service Board he has been reflecting on the statement he gave outside a downtown Toronto courthouse on April 21, shortly after Umar Zameer was found not guilty in the death of Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup. At the time, Demkiw said police re

  • Johnson’s speakership hangs in the balance as ouster threat looms

    House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed to pass a major foreign aid package over the objections of hardline conservatives. Now, the Louisiana Republican will have to face the fallout.

  • Saks says drug criminalization decision 'urgent', B.C. says feds have all they need

    OTTAWA — Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks said she needs more information from British Columbia before she can make a decision about recriminalizing public drug use in that province, but the province says she already has everything she needs. Last week B.C. asked Health Canada to amend an exemption that decriminalized hard drugs in that province to recriminalize public drug use. Saks told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday the decision needed to be made urgently but she needed more from the province.

  • New US sanctions against Russia target weapons development, ban uranium imports for nuclear power

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on hundreds of companies and people tied to Russia's weapons development program, more than a dozen Chinese entities accused of helping Moscow find workarounds to earlier penalties, and individuals linked to the death of Kremlin opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The actions by the departments of Treasury and State target Russia’s military-industrial base, chemical weapons programs and people and companies in third countries t