Attorneys representing former manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides will send a notice of claims against Martinsville, in preparation for a possible suit against the city.
This is according to Ferrell-Benavides’ attorney, Paul Goldman, who announced his intent to send a notice of claims relating to events leading up to the termination of Ferrell-Benavides earlier this year.
A notice of claims serves as a prerequisite to a suit. It is legally required when taking legal action against cities, counties or towns.
Ferrell-Benavides’ termination was explicitly mentioned in the notice.
“…[M]y client will also be pursuing her rights for violating her employment contract and actions that enure from that breach,” reads part of the notice.
Goldman said the notice is not to be confused with an actual lawsuit.
“It’s a notice,” Goldman said. “It’s all it is. We’re not accusing anybody, we’re not guaranteeing this, we’re not saying anything. We’re putting you on notice about what might happen … so it’s fair to everybody, so that we know what we are looking at.”
“Just to be on the safe side, we decided to give them notice of the various things we’re going to do,” Goldman said in a call.
He cited Virginia Code 15.2-209, “Notice to be given to counties, cities, and towns of tort claims for damages.”
The law says that claims against local governments “shall be forever barred” without written notice within six months after the alleged offense.
The notice can be sent to either the mayor or city attorney. Accordingly, Goldman Ferrell-Benavides’ legal team sent notices to Mayor L.C. Jones, acting city manager Robert Fincher and the Sands Anderson law firm in Roanoke. The Sands Anderson law firm is serving as the city’s legal representative.
Jones had not responded to a request for comment at the time of this story’s publication.
Councilmember Aaron Rawls said he was not informed about the notice.
While the notice does not go into details, it does mention a handful of claims. These include harassment, defamation, retaliation and at least one mention of a civil rights violation.
Currently, Ferrell-Benavides is a co-defendant in another civil rights suit filed by Councilmember Aaron Rawls. The suit stems from a March incident in which a sheriff’s deputy escorted Rawls from a public meeting.
While Rawls accused Ferrell-Benavides of having signaled the deputy to act, the former manager maintains she had nothing to do with the incident.
In total, the notice cites 15 claims between July 14 and Sept. 8.
Goldman said the earliest possible timeline for a suit could be late October or early November.
Goldman said he and his team have to hash out the details. Everything from who will be implicated in the suit to whether they file locally or with the state must be decided on.
“Nothing has been firmly decided,” Goldman said. “That’s why it takes a while.”
Goldman’s notice comes in the midst of an investigation into city spending. Councilors voted to submit investigation material to Martinsville Commonwealth Attorney Andrew Hall on the same night they voted to fire the former manager.
Since then, Hall has expressed concern about the investigative material his office has received and possible conflicts of interest between himself and city officials. Last month, he had Bedford Commonwealth Attorney Wes Nance take over the investigation as a special prosecutor.
