Whistleblower Lawsuit: Concerns about Bobby Ferguson were Ignored

[Downtown Lady]

from the Detroit News:

The city's former top civil engineer is suing the city, claiming officials ignored her when she raised red flags over a controversial contract that ultimately led to charges against Bobby Ferguson.

Jessy Jacob filed a whistle-blower lawsuit on Friday, alleging she suffered retaliation in part for talking to FBI agents in late 2009 about her concerns.

...Jacob alleges she sent a letter in 2007 to [the] project manager of the Detroit Building Authority, asking that the contract to Ferguson Enterprises be rebid. She claimed the authority never got her approval for cost estimates or engineering drawings and the contract didn't include a complete accounting of the work to be done.

When FBI agents interviewed her in October 2009, they showed Jacob a copy of her letter ... with the word "disregard" written at the bottom, according to the suit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court.

...The allegations are among several that Jacob claimed led to her firing in January. Shortly before she was removed by Bing, Jacob alleges, she expressed concerns that city engineers weren't qualified to manage federally funded projects.

Jacob, a city employee since 1986, has since been bumped back to a civil-service position as head engineer for design and field services for public projects. The suit claims she was forced to work alone in a vacant storage room without voice mail and isn't copied on department e-mails and memos.

http://detnews.com/article/20101109/METRO01/11090369

Nothing that Kwame and crew have done surprises me anymore, but this employee alleges that she was terminated by Bing in retaliation for raising concerns about Bobby Ferguson. This would be disconcerting if proven to be true, as it seems odd that Bing would be involved in Kwame-related nonsense.

It's possible that her claim may have merit, and it is also entirely possible that she was fired for unrelated just cause -- and recognizes the benefit of tying the termination to her previously-documented objections to Bobby Ferguson. I'll be interested to see what comes out of this in court testimony as it relates to Bing.

[Fnemecek]

Nothing that Kwame and crew have done surprises me anymore, but this employee alleges that she was terminated by Bing in retaliation for raising concerns about Bobby Ferguson. This would be disconcerting if proven to be true, as it seems odd that Bing would be involved in Kwame-related nonsense.

I don't think Mayor Bing was involved in any Kwame-related nonsense personally. However, and this is the important part, most of Kwame's people are currently working for the Bing Administration in one capacity or another.

If the top boss changes but the underlings remain constant then, if the top boss isn't too careful, all of the old shenanigans will remain.

And that is what ultimately brings this lawsuit into fruition.

[Gannon]

I always held hope that he kept them in order to root out those who worked with them within the structure of government.

I believe the McNamara group spent a great deal of time stacking the deck which Kwhyme ultimately played 52-pickemup with.


But regardless my recent learning curve with both Bing and Godbee, we must remain skeptical until this all plays out. I have MORE positive information on both...but my gut is still on full-bore alert.


Remember, Kwhyme was protected enough to get VERY preferential treatment in the county jail the first time he was incarcerated...and full use of a cell phone while he was in that state jail in the UP. Connected...and those who allowed all that are still in government.

Ella Bully-Cumming's ex-husband may not be in charge of the Sheriff department, but his hand-picked [[and continually in the midst of nastiness) assistant Benny Napolean IS.


Where IS ol' Warren Evans today, anyways?!



Cheers