RICHMOND, Va. -- The City of Richmond is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by its former Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer Connie Clay.
Clay alleged she was firedearlier this year for blowing the whistle about Richmond's ongoing FOIA violations. However, in new court filings, the city disputed Clay's claims and described her as an employee who was difficult to work with.
On March 1, Clay filed a $250,000 lawsuit against the city and her supervisor Petula Burks, the city's director of public relations. Clay said she was forced out of her job after raising concerns about the city's routine noncompliance with Virginia's public records law, which requires the government to be transparent about much of its work on taxpayers' behalf.
Clay started her role as FOIA Officer in July 2023 and said it didn't take long for her to become concerned with the city's handling of FOIA requests.
“I sounded the alarm beginning in August, so for several months, and no one listened. And I was silenced and then fired," Clay said in a previous interview with CBS 6. “There were many instances where I was asked to withhold information that should have been released or to sit on records that should have been released.”
In her lawsuit, Clay said the information the city allegedly attempted to suppress pertained to the meals tax issues, the death of a city employee, and the casino proposal.
In emails before her termination in late January, Clay accused Burks of suggesting she "do things that are unethical such as secreting parts of my FOIA log," and she told Burks that city stakeholders were "obviously untrained in FOIA law."
“I had a conversation with Petula at one point and she said, 'I just don't want the city to look stupid.' And I remember thinking, 'Well, the city needs to stop doing stupid things,'" Clay said when asked why she believed the city wouldn't release certain information.
But City Attorney Laura Drewry immediately labeled Clay's complaint as "baseless."
Less than two weeks later, Drewry retained an outside law firm to represent the city and Burks.
According to an engagement letter dated March 13 obtained by CBS 6 through a FOIA request, the city will pay lawyers with Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. up to $470 an hour for legal services.
"It is understood that these rates represent a significant discount from the rates typically charged by Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart to commercial clients because of the public interest considerations which prompted it to perform services for the City, a tax-supported entity," the letter stated.
On April 25, counsel for the defendants filed a response to Clay's complaint, requesting the suit be dismissed entirely.
The defendants called Clay's allegations "subjective disagreements" with Burks and other city officials about the "scope of FOIA exemptions and document productions."
Defendants also argued that Clay's complaint failed to show that Burks or the city engaged in wrongdoing or abuse, as legally defined under the state's Whistleblower Protection Act.
They also claimed that Clay did not establish a connection between her reports of alleged FOIA violations and her termination or any other adverse actions against her.
The defendants concluded that Clay "indeed was not a "good fit" because she clashed with just about everyone she worked with and she refused to perform her job duties on several occasions, causing more work for others."
Just days before Clay filed her lawsuit, a CBS 6 investigation revealed the city was not complying with its FOIA obligations by missing legal deadlines to respond to requests for information.
At the time, the city acknowledged that its FOIA process needed improvements, and a memo written by Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders that same week laid out a five-point plan to make it better.
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