Four former College Park employees who were fired on May 20 came forward during public comment at a recent city council meeting, demanding answers and alleging wrongful termination.
Rose Stewart, the city’s former director of human resources and risk management, spoke on behalf of herself and three other former employees: Jerry Silver, a former code enforcement officer; Veronica Brown, a former purchasing employee; and Shawn Hightower, a former code enforcement staffer. All four were fired unexpectedly just one day after city council voted to terminate then-City Manager Dr. Emmanuel Adediran on May 19.
They are demanding reinstatement to their positions, Stewart said in her statement.
In a May interview with SaportaReport, Silver alleged that while employed he was repeatedly ordered to issue code citations and board up properties that had no violations — instructions he said came from Councilman Roderick Gay and were reinforced in private meetings with both the councilman and the city attorney. Silver said he refused to comply and believes his termination is the result.
Gay has declined requests for comment regarding Silver’s claims.
During the June 2 city council meeting, Stewart stated that she and her former colleagues were fired without warning and without explanation.
Stewart said that none of the four employees had committed any policy violations, and that the city failed to follow proper disciplinary procedures. “There were no verbal warnings, no written warnings,” she said. “Even our supervisors were unaware and surprised by our terminations.”
The group has submitted an open records request seeking documentation related to their firings, including personnel files, emails, and texts.
Stewart stated that they were notified of their termination by Interim City Manager Lindell Miller, whom she argued was entering her first day on the job and not yet been officially approved to act in that capacity.
The onboarding process into the city manager position usually takes days, she said.
Stewart asked Miller directly during her comments: “Who instructed you to terminate us?”
She continued, “Every employee has a right to know if they’ve done something inconsistent with policy.”
Stewart said in her statement that the four now-former employees demand city leadership allow department heads to manage their teams “without harassment, intimidation, and threats.”
No city official responded to Stewart’s remarks during the meeting.
