CHARLOTTE — A former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools executive filed a grievance against then district-Board Chair Stephanie Sneed and Vice Chair Dee Rankin, alleging age discrimination and questioning whether they had the ability to fire her. Former Superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill, in her 200-page memo, also questioned how the grievance was handled.
Channel 9 is not identifying the former employee.
The grievance says on Jan. 20, Sneed and Rankin met with this now-former employee on the Teams meeting platform and said her position was being eliminated effective March 31. The complaint says Sneed said her position was being “riffed” and she never believed it was necessary. The employee wasn’t offered a different role in the district. The complaint accused Sneed and Rankin of age discrimination because the duties of the position weren’t eliminated; they were given to employees in her department who were younger than her.
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The employee also questioned whether Sneed and Rankin had the authority to terminate her. This employee says she did not report to the board and says her superior never spoke to her about the position being eliminated. This is where the law firm Poyner Spruill first came into play. Hill’s memo says she does not know who hired Poyner Spruill to represent Sneed, Rankin, the employee’s superior, and the HR director.
Poyner Spruill is now under controversy because of contracts authorized by Sneed that brought on board consultant and community activist Raki McGregor. Hill says this was done without the board’s knowledge.
Hill also said, in her memo, that even though she was the contracting party and it was a district employee who filed the grievance, the law firm did not communicate with her about the investigation. She said she doesn’t know if other board members knew about the grievance, and she never saw the results of the investigation.
Sneed, Rankin, and a spokesperson for the district did not respond to a request for comment.
The former employee who filed the grievance did not respond to a request for comment.
CMS Board Member Anna London, who was appointed by Sneed the Board’s independent representative for the grievance, said she was unable to comment due to personnel issues.
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