Chapel Hill’s ‘Sanitation 2’ file official complaint

Two sanitation workers who were fired by the town of Chapel Hill in October 2010 personally served a complaint to Town Manager Roger Stancil last week.

The workers, Kerry Bigelow and Clyde Clark, have filed a complaint against the town for wrongful termination and a violation of constitutional rights. The complaint was filed with the Orange County Superior Court.

After they were initially fired, Clark and Bigelow appealed the case through the town’s internal grievance process, first to the town manager and then to a personnel appeals committee of residents, but the decision to uphold the termination was finalized in March.

The plaintiffs want their jobs and benefits reinstated, compensation for damages and fairer policies toward public workers.

“What we’re trying to do is get these guys their job back and to get the town of Chapel Hill to treat all its employees equally,” McSurely said.

The town’s decision to fire the two black union members, often referred to as the “Sanitation 2,” led to claims of racial discrimination and anti-union sentiments by civil rights groups.

In particular, the town’s conduct at the appeals committee hearing has been called into question, McSurely said.

McSurely said he has not received a response from the town since filing the complaint.

“The town does not have any further comment on this new pending litigation at this time,” wrote Catherine Lazorko, the town’s spokeswoman, in an email. “The town will be responding to it through the appropriate legal channels.”

According to the town’s website, Bigelow and Clark were fired after several complaints from residents regarding the pair’s poor conduct on their waste collection route. A third-party investigation supported claims that they were intimidating and threatening residents, the website states.

The complaint states that anonymous testimonies given by two females over the phone at the February hearings violated workers’ rights to due process. The testimonies involved claims of intimidation.

“They were shammed hearings,” he said. “It was just an embarrassment.”

Rev. Robert Campbell, first vice president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP branch, said the anonymous testimonies also raised doubts about witness authenticity.

“We didn’t know if the person who was involved was speaking or not,” he said. “We just had to accept that they were who they said they were.”

But the town website states that the plaintiffs’ constitutional right to face their accuser was not violated because the hearings were administrative.

Laurel Ashton, co-chairwoman of UNC-Chapel Hill Student Action with Workers, which supports the pair, said she is certain a jury trial would be much fairer because of legal requirements.

The plaintiffs’ complaint points to the town attorney’s role as adviser of the appeals committee as another cause of bias.

The complaint also claims that the town violated Bigelow and Clyde’s right to free speech and right to participate in union activities and the state constitution’s no-discrimination clause.

Campbell said winning the case is about more than just compensating the plaintiffs.

“The victory goes beyond the economic value,” he said. “It goes toward the root of our social integrity.”

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