Two weeks after City Manager Greg Caton fired him, R. Lamar Whitmer – who had a rocky six-month tenure as Mayor Lisa Borowsky’s chief of staff – filed a notice he intends to sue the city and Caton.
The notice alleges Caton did a “sham” investigation into Whitmer’s behavior.
And, since Borowsky hired Whitmer Oct. 6, “The city manager has no authority over the chief of staff nor the power to terminate him,” the letter maintains.
“The chief of staff’s job duties confirm he responds directly to the mayor.”
According to the April 8 “notice of claim” sent to City Hall, “Whitmer states his willingness to settle his claims against the city described herein for the sum certain of $1.5 million.”
That total, according to a letter sent by Whitmer’s attorney Dennis Wilenchik, “accounts for his loss of employment as chief of staff to the Mayor, the adverse impacts to his reputation, future employment, emotional harm and anticipated attorneys’ fees.”
Caton’s office has not responded to a request for comment on Whitmer’s notice of claim.
After receiving complaints about Whitmer’s work-place behavior, Caton placed him on paid, non-disciplinary leave Jan. 14.
Whitmer “was ‘perp walked’ out of the building and his office despite the mayor not wishing him to be relieved of his duties and not wishing him to be removed as he was or terminated,” the notice of claim states.
For two months, “the city and Mr. Caton conducted a so-called investigation into various allegations against Mr. Whitmer that were pretextual and a sham,” the Wilenchik letter alleges.
After weeks of refusing to state why Whitmer was suspended, the city released a report on the investigation after Caton fired Whitmer. The report details many charges, including Whitmer’s “unprofessional and offensive comments” and inappropriate behavior at City Hall – as well as Whitmer abusing his power and violating city rules with repeated “political activity.”
The allegations investigated by the city’s Human Resources Department ranged from trying to avoid paying a parking ticket to soliciting a campaign donation in return for the mayor cooperating with Axon’s development plan.
The investigation by the city’s Human Resources deemed seven of nine allegations “substantiated.” The other two, including the Axon-donation allegation, were ruled “not substantiated.”
But, according to Whitmer’s notice of claim, the report “was an attempt to place extremely minor matters as somehow important and/or to simply misstate facts and evidence for a pre-determined outcome to remove Mr. Whitmer.
“The investigation resulted in a pre-determined report the city and Mr. Caton shared with the public, including with Times Media Group (owner of the Progress) and others, to humiliate and embarrass our client and place him in a false light and to defame him.”
The notice of claim points to a meeting with the NAACP, in which the investigation found Whitmer engaged in “political activities” in lobbying the group not to take out a recall petition against Borowsky.
Whitmer’s attorney calls that “a distortion of the truth of what happened.
“In reality, the NAACP was not questioned about the meeting as part of the investigation,” Wilenchik writes. “… The meeting was not political in nature, and Mr. Whitmer did not promise any favors, nor did he bring up the recall packet.
“The two people who attended the meeting and were interviewed both denied the meeting was political in nature,” the letter added.
“In fact, the NAACP’s chief issue was with Mr. Caton himself, specifically about his approach towards inclusion and culture within the city of Scottsdale and his shameful attitude he displayed.”