Chapel Hill solid waste employees fired after investigations

After being placed on paid administrative leave more than a month ago, two Chapel Hill solid waste employees have lost their jobs.

Kerry Bigelow and Clyde Clark, who are both members of the N.C. Public Service Workers Union, were put on leave Sept. 20 while Town Manager Roger Stancil investigated their cases.

They were officially fired Friday.

During the five-week investigation, which lasted from Sept. 20 to Oct. 28, the two collectively received more than $5,900 in salary payments from the town.

Results of the investigation have not been released because of personnel information protection.

Town spokeswoman Catherine Lazorko said in an e-mail that Bigelow and Clark have until Nov. 12 to file grievances regarding their terminations.

After receiving a grievance, Stancil can either address the appeal himself or forward it to a personnel appeals committee.

Lazorko said about half of all terminated employees appeal their cases.

Michelle Cotton Laws , president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said her organization is working with Bigelow and Clark to file their appeals.

“We are hoping the town will reinstate them at some point through the appeals process,” Laws said. “Our main concern is that the message isn’t sent to other workers that any time you go outside the agency to rally support you will be retaliated against.”

While Laws could not discuss the specifics of the workers’ terminations, she said their personnel files showed no violent, harmful action or egregious disregard of their duties.

“There was absolutely nothing in their files that would suggest that these workers needed to be dismissed,” Laws said.

While she hopes it will end another way, Laws said the group is putting together a legal team in case the issue has to go to court.

“We’re still standing by our statement that it was a retaliatory action,” she said.

Laws, who is up for re-election Saturday, and her colleagues will host an event at the town hall Nov. 15 to address workers’ rights and collective bargaining.

The Rev. William Barber II, president of the N.C. NAACP chapter, will speak at the event and will address both town and University workers.

Angaza Laughinghouse, president of the N.C. Public Service Workers Union, said his organization is also working with the Bigelow and Clark to appeal their terminations.

“At no point were they given the opportunity to face the people who made accusations against them,” Laughinghouse said. “Due process is due to every human being.”

The union, more commonly known as UE 150, has more than 4,000 members across the state, and Laughinghouse said the group is currently having strategic meetings on Bigelow’s and Clark’s terminations.

“We will continue to call upon the workers to unite around this unfair and unjust firing,” Laughinghouse said. “We have to make sure whatever we do, we do it from a position of strength.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.