Banning a former employee from City Hall cost Durham $15K. What could happen next.
A dispute with a fired employee that resulted in a $15,000 settlement has city leaders considering a new ordinance.
The proposal, which is up for debate Thursday, would guide leaders on how to constitutionally trespass people from city property.
It was prompted by a lawsuit from Jerry Pannachia, who was a senior laborer in the city’s landscaping division for less than four months in the spring of 2018.
Ten days after he was fired, a deputy city manager issued a trespass order barring Pannachia from city property. Pannachia argued that violated his constitutional rights and won the $15,000 settlement last fall.
“According to City Attorney Kimberly Rehberg, had the City had a clear protocol to follow and implement, it is unlikely there would have been a claim asserted on this issue,” deputy communication director Amy Blalock said in an email Wednesday.
Why was he fired?
Pannachia said his firing was in retaliation to his reporting and objecting to a coworker’s racist comments.
The two men Pannachia overheard, who are Asian and African American, shook hands and settled their differences in a meeting with supervisors and an HR rep, according to court records.
However, Pannachia, who is white, believed the incident wasn’t taken seriously and was upset, he said in court filings. He said that became a pretext for his firing a month later.
A federal judge disagreed and sided with the city last year, issuing an order that kept the case from going to trial.
City staff said Pannachia was fired because of several instances of not meeting performance standards. The day before Pannachia’s dismissal, a trailer full of landscaping equipment fell off his truck.
A former coworker said Pannachia “does not know how to use a weed whacker,” would make loud, angry phone calls during work, and once “verbally berated a Domino’s Pizza employee while ordering pizza at work,” according to the judge’s order.
Pannachia did not respond to an email from The News & Observer.
Trespassed from government property
The Durham City Council listened to a presentation about the proposed change at a work session Thursday.
“Establishing this ordinance doesn’t give the city any new authority to trespass individuals and we don’t want to use (it) to trespass more individuals,” Assistant City Attorney Anne Marie Tosco said. “We just want to create standards.”
The proposed ordinance authorizes City Manager Wanda Page and anyone she delegates to issue trespass notices.
The written documents would contain:
- The reason
- The location from which they’re being trespassed
- The length, not to exceed two years (unless it’s violated)
- The consequences, which could include criminal charges
- The right to appeal
Recipients would have one week to appeal after being served. The city manager makes the final call after a hearing.
A vote will take place at the City Council’s June 20 meeting.
This story was originally published June 8, 2023 at 10:18 AM.
