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Former Circuit Attorney Staffer Sues Kim Gardner for Racial Discrimination, Retaliation | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

January 10, 2023

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click to enlarge DANNY WICENTOWSKI St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.

A former diversion specialist at the St. Louis Office of the Circuit Attorney is suing her former boss, Kim Gardner, alleging workplace discrimination.
Rebecca Goetz was hired by the Circuit Attorney’s Office, or CAO, in October 2021 to work for its diversion program, which provides individuals accused of crimes the opportunity to avoid convictions by completing work, educational or treatment programs.
According to the lawsuit filed today in federal court, Goetz, who is white, faced racial discrimination and then was fired when she spoke up about it. In the suit filed by St. Louis-based attorneys Bevis Schock and Erich Vieth, she alleges civil rights violations that include retaliation based on her race and “discharge” based on her race, as well as a conspiracy claim.
Much of the lawsuit centers on interactions between Goetz and other CAO staff during a May 19, 2022, meeting with Gardner and four other CAO staff members.
According to the lawsuit, the meeting was about a Diversion Program client who had spoken to a Normandy school group during a field trip to the courthouse organized in part by Goetz, as well as about a client who hadn’t paid court costs they were obligated to pay.
A video of students mocking the Diversion Program client’s presentation had made its way to Gardner, who apparently said that this client was “not on track” to graduate the program. The lawsuit says that Goetz wrote an email in which she said she felt like the client was being unfairly punished for his poor public speaking skills, but that he was on track to get a job with a trucking company.
According to the lawsuit, Gardner told Goetz: “I prefer that you don’t write things out— that you just come talk to me.”
A few weeks after the field trip, on May 19, the staffers met with Gardner — and the meeting became racially charged. One of those present was Victor Martin, who according to Goetz’s attorney is a CAO contract employee with a “major role” in the Diversion Program. According to the statement, “Martin is on parole and is listed on the Missouri Department of Corrections Offender Search website as having an ‘Active Sentence’ of ‘Murder 1 st Degree.”
According to the lawsuit, as the group discussed the client who owed program fees, “Martin stated that he was bothered that Goetz kept track of the money that participants owed.”
Martin allegedly told Goetz, “You’re not Black. You’re just a slave owner. That’s all you are. You’re a slave owner. I’m Black. You’re not. You will never help these participants.”
Also at the meeting, the lawsuit alleges that Martin repeatedly said, “All you do is act like slave owners.”
According to the lawsuit, Gardner “did not stop Martin from making these accusations toward [Goetz] or admonish him.”
According to the lawsuit, after the meeting grew heated, Gardner said, “Obviously, there is some racial tension. I’m going to call in Mr. Waheed. He’s used to addressing these types of situations. ”
Khatib Waheed has been a diversion manager for the office since 2017. According to the lawsuit, Waheed told Goetz: “Becky, let me explain about our history … the office must protect Gardner because she is a Black elected woman with a new agenda and people who don’t like it.”
According to the suit, “Waheed told [Goetz]: ‘White people created racism. They put all the guns and drugs into Black and Hispanic communities and therefore . . . . racism.'”
According to the lawsuit, Goetz responded: “I understand. I agree with you regarding the poor communities, but I don’t understand why the color of my skin affects this program and what [Martin] is saying.”
To this, the lawsuit says, Waheed told Goetz: “This is a perfect example of micro-aggression as racism.”
The suit goes on to say that CAO staff member Reddit Hudson spoke up on behalf of Goetz, saying, “Racism is about intent and that [Goetz] had no bad intent.”
According to the suit, Waheed replied, “You know that what you just said is a perfect form of a micro-aggression.”
The following day, the lawsuit says, Goetz was put on administrative leave.
The lawsuit says that Goetz was then placed under investigation for texts she had sent to others in the office in which she complained of the way she’d been treated. In the texts she said she was upset about her treatment, that she felt she might get fired and that she was considering contacting an attorney if that happened.
Goetz was fired on May 26.
Goetz’s lawsuit contends that she was fired for “no lawful reasons” and that her text messages with colleagues were “protected conduct.”
Goetz previously filed a complaint with the EEOC, her lawyers say, and was granted the right to sue in federal court. She is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
Employment lawsuits based on racial discrimination filed by white people have some history of success in St. Louis courts. In 2015, a former white professor at Harris Stowe was awarded $5 million when a jury found that the historically Black college had discriminated against her based on race.
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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

8 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

8 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

8 months ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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