A former College Park code enforcement supervisor has filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging retaliatory termination and misconduct by an elected official.
Last Friday, Attorney J. Matthew Maquire filed the lawsuit under the Georgia Whistleblower Act on behalf of Jerry Silver in Fulton County Superior Court. The act protects public employees from retaliation if they refuse to participate in something unlawful or if they disclose conduct that they believe is unlawful.
The lawsuit states that Silver was fired last May for refusing to write illegal code enforcement citations that he alleges were ordered by Councilman Roderick Gay.
Gay did not return a phone call to SaportaReport. His reply to a text message requesting comment was a press release for a new dog park ribbon-cutting ceremony in his Ward 4 district.
The lawsuit details alleged directives from Gay described as serving his “unlawful, private agendas and vendettas.” It lists 12 properties where Silver was allegedly told to issue code violations even if none existed.
“He would call me every week, every other day, demanding things to get done in his ward,” Silver said on Tuesday. “He told me that I was his personal code officer.”
One property cited in the lawsuit is Rogers Repair Shop on Riverdale Road. Owner Roderick Rogers is currently in a rezoning battle — also in Fulton County Superior Court — with the city to have his business license renewed. His business has been closed since February.
Silver’s complaint...
appeal involving a $1. 6 billion judgment against Johnson & Johnson unit Janssen as well as the constitutionality of the FCA's "qui tam" whistleblower provisions, arguing that the act's lawfuln...