Louisville mayor's former deputy chief of staff plans whistleblower lawsuit after termination (2024)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A former deputy chief of staff for Louisville's mayor said she plans to file a whistleblower lawsuit against the city following her termination last week.

Keisha Dorsey also has asked Metro Human Resources for reinstatement to her position. Dorsey filed two complaints through the city's ethics portal, claiming a potential pattern of systemic gender, age and race discrimination and a hostile work environment.

"Sometimes, you get sick and tired of being sick and tired of the same old, same old," Dorsey said in an interview with WDRB News. "I know Louisville deserves better."

Dorsey, a former Metro Council member, came in on the ground floor of Mayor Craig Greenberg's administration, serving on the new mayor's transition team in 2022 before she was named deputy chief of staff in January 2023.

Dorsey said she fell out of favor with the administration when she fought pay disparities, saying some women on her team made far less than their predecessors from the prior administration.

In September 2023, the city named Suzanne Manuel Wright as a second deputy chief of staff. Greenberg didn't cut Dorsey's pay or title but assigned her to lead a team focused on diversifying the vendors and entrepreneurs Metro Government did business with.

At the time of the announcement, Dorsey said she was "blessed" by her new role. She now says it was a move made in retaliation.

"(I) was assigned to an Equity and Procurement Task Force and removed from any official Metro operations. I had no experience in equity, none in procurement," Dorsey said. "I was willing to still go along. The reason being, because there was still opportunity for me to help my people. And I don't mean just Black people. I mean my people — every single citizen here in the city of Louisville."

Behind the scenes, tension would build. The Greenberg administration claims Dorsey's work attendance was an issue.

"I have struggled with fibroids and fertility for quite a long time," Dorsey said.

Emails provided by the mayor's office from February 2024 show Greenberg's Chief of Staff David Kaplan telling Dorsey she had to "operate according to the same rules as everyone else" and that she would "have a full opportunity to explain why, even prior to your surgery, your lack of attendance was noticeable."

Dorsey said she'd had surgery the month before that email. Despite the email exchange, she was never disciplined in writing for attendance. The following month, in March 2024, records show Dorsey took medical leave from Metro government due to stress, high blood pressure and what she described as a hostile work environment.

When she returned in mid-May, she worked from home.

"Keisha was doing her job," Dorsey said when asked to respond to claims about her attendance. "Keisha was understanding a completely new realm of not just a job assignment but a new realm of experience — meeting with community partners, out studying procurement code ... Again, I had no background in this."

The end came last week. Deputy Mayor David James accused Dorsey of lobbying Councilman Jeff Hudson related to an ordinance for veterans and asking him to keep the conversation quiet.

Hudson declined to comment on his interaction with Dorsey.

"Since she has filed an ethics complaint, I feel like that needs to run its course before I comment on it," Hudson told WDRB last week.

James called Dorsey's conduct "deceitful, unethical and unprofessional" in a letter of reprimand.

"Mayor's staff are expected to communicate with the Mayor's Metro Council Liaison before lobbying council members on specific issues," Greenberg spokesman Kevin Trager said in a statement. "Keisha created this policy in 2023."

Dorsey said James' write-up mischaracterized that conversation.

"It was an exploratory conversation. No legislation was proposed, no lobbying," she said. "I don't work on behalf of a group, and it's in my personal capacity."

She admits she asked Hudson to keep the conversation to himself as she planned to connect him with citizen groups to work on any proposals.

"For the very same reason that supposedly I was written up, because I did not even want the thought of any sort of impropriety," she said.

Dorsey's termination letter did not list a reason for her firing.

Trager said Dorsey was fired for "a pattern of misconduct and job performance issues that followed a long history of repeated unexcused absences."

"I get a write-up on Monday," Dorsey said. "I filed an internal complaint on Tuesday, and I'm fired on Wednesday."

Dorsey said she believes she was ousted for filing two complaints through the city's ethics portal. One that claimed a potential pattern of systemic age, gender and racial discrimination, among other issues. Dorsey lists the names of dozens of women she says were fired, told to resign, reassigned, or reprimanded by the city — more than 30 women since Greenberg took office 19 months ago.

Among others, the complaint references the termination of Terri Hathaway, the former administrator of Metro Government's Small Business and Commercial Property loan program, alleging that she was fired for "calling out" the creation of a new "white male-led" economic development corporation. Other cases involve alleged gender discrimination in the "forced resignation" of former Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields and alleged racial and gender discrimination against ex-LMPD Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, who was Greenberg's first appointment as mayor.

The complaint, which Dorsey provided to WDRB, says there appears to be a "disproportionate impact" on minority and African-American leaders in the Greenberg administration and a pattern of women leaders being replaced by men.

"I just really sat back and watched. Some of them I haven't even had contact with. I've just watched and heard these conversations about getting rid of these women," Dorsey said.

The mayor's office declined to make Greenberg available for an interview for this report, but he did address Dorsey's complaint at an event the day after her termination.

"I'm incredibly proud of the diverse team that we have at Louisville Metro Government, the diverse team that we have in the mayor's office, the diverse team that we have across the departments people of all races, genders, ages, experiences, working together to make our city safer, stronger and healthier," he said.

Additionally, the complaint raises questions about younger workers facing "undue challenges in the workplace" and possible violations of federal laws governing family and medical leave and disability accommodations.

"If we stay silent, who else would be impacted," Dorsey said. "So it wasn't just about the women who were on the list. It's actually about the women who aren't."

Related Stories:

• Ex-Greenberg official seeks probe of 'potential patterns of discrimination' in Louisville government
• Louisville mayor's deputy chief of staff ousted after reprimand, ethics complaint
• Louisville Metro's $30M overtime payouts are a sign of understaffing and increased workload
• Louisville is creating a new economic development corporation. An ethics complaint cries foul.
• Judge dismisses ex-Greenberg staffer's lawsuit claiming Louisville broke Ky. whistleblower law
• Former city worker claims she was fired for raising ethics concerns about Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg's wife

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