So far, three officials have been charged with misdemeanors and felonies for their roles in the water crisis which poisoned the city.
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The lawsuit-filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of MI in Flint-claims that Henderson’s rights under the Whistleblowers Protection Act and the First Amendment were violated.
As an inducement, Snyder said the water used by residents in the month of May will be free.
Filed on Monday in US District Court, the wrongful termination lawsuit alleges that former City Administrator Natasha Henderson was sacked for shining a light on the issue, and that the decision was a violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act as well as free speech protections. After Henderson asked Anthony Chubb, the city’s interim chief legal counsel, to launch an investigation, she says she was hauled into the mayor’s office and “unilaterally terminated”. She referred reporters to attorney Kendall Williams, who didn’t return a call seeking comment.
In an effort to flush out lead particles in Flint’s water system that continue to spike the supply to unsafe levels, Gov. Rick Snyder and Flint Mayor Karen Weaver on Thursday launched a new campaign created to persuade residents to run their taps for 10 minutes a day for two weeks.
“It saddens me that someone would attempt to taint me as mayor of a city that is dealing with a major public health crisis, which has affected every man, woman and child in Flint”, Weaver says in a statement.
A former city administrator says she was sacked for telling Flint’s legal counsel that the mayor tried to divert charity funds to her PAC.
The program developed by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her donors to employ young, out-of-work people in Flint, Michigan will benefit fewer than 100 of the city’s 10,000 unemployed.
A report says Flint’s costly residential water bills could double in the next five years because of a continued loss of customers, increased operating costs, pipe leakage and other problems in the impoverished city whose residents face a lead contamination crisis.
Henderson’s lawyer told CNN: “My client was brought in to help the City of Flint”.
“We have successes every day”, Capt. Chris Kelenske, the deputy state director of emergency management and Homeland Security who is heading up Michigan’s emergency response in Flint, told a meeting last month of the MI civil rights commission.
The lawsuit claims the city violated both Henderson’s contract and state whistleblower protections by firing her.
It’s estimated it will cost $1.7 million.
“Ms. Henderson was key in securing the funds needed to make the switch from the Flint River back to the DWDS water system and received much praise from the city council for doing so”. Henderson seeks “unpaid wages, [and] compensatory and punitive damages” from the city, according to Michigan Live.
Throughout the last month, teens from across the city have been collecting either water or money for the cause.
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“A red flag went off when it was an unrecognizable fund”, ms. Kennedy said “She did the right thing”.
