CHARLOTTE — The city of Charlotte’s settlement with Lance Patterson has been in news because of its timing and the hiring of his wife, Estella as police chief. But the lawsuit and settlement aren’t anything new and the city and Lance Patterson tried to put this to bed years ago.
Channel 9 first started covering Patterson’s claims against Charlotte Fire in 2018. That’s when he filed a lawsuit with Captain Sylivia Smith-Phifer alleging harassment, discrimination and unfair promotional practices.
Their lawsuit largely took aim at the leadership of former Charlotte fire chief Jon Hannan who they accused of having a deeply ingrained bias against African Americans. But it also said some issues lingered under Fire Chief Reginald Johnson.
“All of them have been white males. Good friends,” then Captain Lance Patterson said. “I wish them the best moving forward in their careers, but nevertheless, there are qualified African Americans that continue to get overlooked.”
In 2020, Chief Johnson promoted Patterson to the position he was seeking while suing, Battalion Chief. His wife, now CMPD Chief Estella Patterson, stood next to him.
“You’ve worked very hard to obtain this position, and I am glad to pin this badge on you as battalion chief,” Chief Johnson told Patterson in a video posted by Neptune Fire CLT.
The lawsuit continued its way in federal court until 2022, when the city of Charlotte and Patterson agreed to a settlement. Channel 9 reported this week that State Auditor Dave Boliek is now probing this.
Documents obtained by Channel 9 show on Thanksgiving Eve of this year, City Attorney Andrea Leslie-Fite told the auditor’s office in 2022 that the city agreed to settle with Patterson for $180,000, but there was a dispute over the terms for payment of sick leave hours and retirement benefits.
The next few years of legal action centered on those terms until this past July, when the trial court ruled there is no settlement agreement in place. A new trial was set for next week.
That new trial obviously won’t happen because of the new settlement agreement. The city is paying Patterson $40,000 and his attorneys $59,999.
That dollar amount is significant because it is one dollar below the maximum Marcus Jones can approve without Charlotte City Council’s authorization. Patterson signed the deal October 13. Jones signed October 21. Jones’ signature finalized the deal.
On October 27, the Charlotte City Council voted to change how future deals can be made. The reason the city manager signed off on the Patterson settlement was because he could approve up to $100,000. The city attorney at the time could only approve up to $50,000.
The October 27th vote now gives the city attorney the same payout threshold as the city manager. Then city attorney Anthony Fox did not cite the Patterson settlement before the vote.
“This is just to make it more efficient,” former interim city attorney Anthony Fox said. “It will allow me to go ahead and sign up for that $100,000. Anything above that still comes to council as it will do and has always been done.”
Four days later, the city officially announced the hiring of Patterson’s wife, Estella, as police chief.
The city says the settlement has nothing to do with Estella Patterson being hired as CMPD chief.
The city points out that this has been ongoing for years, and they almost settled in 2022.
The city also says outside counsel was handling this case and was not aware of Patterson being a finalist for the role. It is common for the city to outsource legal services for some claims.
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