Former Employee Sues Carrboro Over Firing

Keith Lankford, former zoning administrator for the town of Carrboro, recently filed a lawsuit against the town arguing that he was fired because of unpopular decisions he made while employed by the town. Lankford, who began working for the town in 1991, was terminated June 1, 1999.

Civil rights attorney Al McSurely filed the lawsuit for Lankford, who claims he was fired because he enforced zoning codes and ordinances that made some powerful developers in the area unhappy with him.

Lankford's attorney did not return calls asking for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Lankford claims that some influential developers with political ties in the area had complained to the Board of Aldermen because Lankford upheld strict zoning codes and ordinances that hurt their development.

But Morgan could not confirm this. "I don't have a record about individuals complaining," he said. "I don't have anything in writing."

According to the lawsuit, Lankford was told the reasons for his termination were that he did not organize weekly meetings with his staff, did not keep an up-to-date list of projects and did not assign thorough work to his staff members.

Another reason given was that he failed to hand out an updated checklist to the correct personnel and did not produce structured form letters.

Lankford's lawsuit claims these charges are not true.

The lawsuit argues that the main reason Lankford was terminated was because he did his duty of imposing zoning code and that his administrator brought the charges against him because developers with political influence wanted him out.

"Historically, that position has had both praise and criticism," Morgan said. "Some get more praise, and some get more criticism. The person in that position deals with it constantly.

"Our objective is to make sure everyone is in compliance with our ordinance," Morgan said.

"If developers complained, it was not a factor in his termination," Morgan said. "The facts of his termination were stated to him."

Morgan said there is a procedure that allows terminated employees to appeal the town's decision.

"There is a grievance procedure and an appeal process for disciplinary action that is in the town code, which is available to employees," he said.

"If an employee is terminated, they can appeal that decision. There is a review of the facts, and it can go through a personnel advisory committee who can make a recommendation to me before I make a final decision."

Morgan said Lankford went through this procedure after he was fired but that the termination was not overturned.

Lankford's lawsuit asks the town of Carrboro to give him back his job, along with back pay, benefits and more than $10,000 in damages for the loss of his reputation.

"Most developers feel that we are pretty tough on them, but we do have a very stringent ordinance," Morgan said.

"But there is no favoritism, and I think we have a solid reputation."

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