By Mandy Catoe
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Keith Tunnell, the former head of the Lancaster County Economic
Development Corp., has filed his second lawsuit against Lancaster County
in 13 months, this time alleging racial discrimination under the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
The federal lawsuit was filed April 25 in U.S. District Court in Rock
Hill. It alleges that Tunnell, who is white, lost his job not because he
butted heads with county officials for years over his leadership of the
LCEDC, but because he had a black foster child.
The suit accuses unnamed “county officials and county related persons”
of making “ongoing negative comments related to Plaintiff’s
racially-mixed family” and also saying he “hired too many black people.”
County Attorney John Weaver said Friday that the county has not been officially notified of the lawsuit.
“The county has not been served with the lawsuit papers officially, and
we do not have any comment,” Weaver said. “It has not been discussed by
the council or with the administrator.”
Weaver said the county will file an answer to the complaint within the federally required timeframe of 20 days.
Columbia attorney Jay Babb IV represents Tunnell in both of the suits against the county.
“Mr. Tunnell hopes to get some justice or resolution in this matter in some form or another,” Babb said.
Mentioned in the lawsuit – but not accused of making racial comments –
are County Council members Larry Honeycutt and Charlene McGriff, former
council Chairman Bob Bundy and county Human Resources Director Lisa
Robinson.
None of the council members chose to comment Friday, and Robinson could not be reached.
The suit says that throughout his 12 years in the job, Tunnell “dealt
with negative and racial comments related to his African-American foster
child, African-American grandchildren and his relationship with
African-American members of his family.”
Race was an issue once before in the long-running LCEDC controversy. A
former agency employee filed a federal race- and age-discrimination
lawsuit against Tunnell and the county in 2014. It was settled out of
court the next year.
Tunnell’s latest lawsuit alleges that when the county cut its ties with
the LCEDC and created an in-house economic development department,
Tunnell applied for the job but was rejected, ostensibly because of the
long-running conflict between him and county officials. But the suit
asserts that the real reason was Tunnell’s mixed-race family.
History of dispute
Tunnell became LCEDC president in 2003. It was a private organization
with its own board of directors, but it was funded almost entirely by
the county government.
Conflict began building many years ago between county officials and
Tunnell. Conditions worsened in 2014 after Lancaster was rejected for
membership in the I-77 Alliance, an economic development cooperative
that includes York, Chester, Fairfield and Richland counties.
In June 2015, the Lancaster County Council ordered a forensic audit of
the LCEDC, the kind designed to gather information that could be used in
court proceedings. At the time, Tunnell protested he had done nothing
improper and said county officials were trying to damage his reputation
by implying there was financial impropriety.
The tension increased until August 2015, when the county council
unexpectedly canceled the audit and withdrew its almost $300,000 in
LCEDC funding, voting to create an in-house economic development
department instead. On Oct. 1, 2015, the agency’s board terminated
Tunnell, citing lack of funding.
Last June, Lancaster County hired Jamie Gilbert, a 25-year economic development veteran, to head its new in-house department.
Tunnell’s first suit against the county, filed in the Sixth Circuit of
Common Pleas in March 2016, said county officials treated him as a
“pariah” and “scapegoat.” He sought damages for defamation, breach of
contract and civil conspiracy.
New lawsuit
The 11-page federal suit filed April 25 accuses the county of racially discriminatory conduct against him and his staff.
The lawsuit alleges:
◆ That Tunnell was “subjected to comments that he was in a relationship
with one of his African-American employees which was a totally false
charge.”
◆ That county council members Charlene McGriff, Bob Bundy and Larry
Honeycutt opposed salary increases for him and his staff of three
African-American employees. “Similar salary increases for other white
county employees was not opposed in the same manner,” the suit says.
◆ That two of the LCEDC’s African-American employees “complained to the
county about harassment and discrimination” in June and July 2015.
◆ That “two LCEDC employees complained of harassment and hostile work environment by the county” in August 2015.
◆ That 10 days after LCEDC employees including Tunnell voiced the above
discrimination complaints, the county “voted to withhold all funding
from the LCEDC.”
◆ That Robinson, the human resources director, told Tunnell that
several county council members felt he had “hired too many black
employees.”
The first lawsuit filed 13 months ago is currently in the discovery
phase, according to county attorney Weaver. No trial date has been set.
Due to the backlog of cases, county civil cases usually don’t go to trial in less than 18 to 24 months, Weaver said.
“Federal cases come to trial much sooner,” he said. “They are usually resolved in less than a year.”
Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.
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