During past year, Burlington has fired 11 employees, suspended 2
Professional missteps ranging from cyberstalking to substance abuse and turning in fanciful time sheets are just some of the reasons why the city of Burlington has parted ways with the former employees whom it dismissed during the past fiscal year.
The Alamance News has been able to glean the details of these alleged professional lapses from a cache of documents that the city has turned over in response to a public records request that it received from the newspaper earlier this summer.
In its request, which mirrored those which it sent to other local cities and towns, the newspaper asked the city’s administrators for detailed information on the dismissals of anyone who was fired for disciplinary reasons during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2024. Under the N.C. Public Records Law, state and local government agencies must provide this information for anyone who is involuntarily dismissed from their payrolls. The newspaper also requested information about other staff members who were demoted or suspended during the same 12-month cycle.
In response, the city provided the newspaper with termination letters for 11 former staff members as well as basic information about two police officers who were briefly suspended and data on 18 other seasonal or part-time employees who were let go simply because their services were no longer needed. The particulars of the 11 people who received termination letters appear below:
Samuel Dylan Rose
One of the more dramatic dismissals on Burlington’s municipal staff concerns Samuel Dylan Rose, a 32-year-old former police officer who was sacked this spring after a workplace romance apparently went sideways.
Rose, who had been with the city’s police department since January 1, 2019, was ultimately dismissed on April 30, 2024 for “violations of criminal law” and transgressions of the city’s personnel policies that allegedly began nearly a year earlier while he was serving as a school resource officer at Walter Williams High School.
Rose received a termination letter on April 30 that traces the grounds for his termination back to an incident which occurred while he was on duty at Williams on June 8, 2023. According to the letter, Rose “engaged in inappropriate physical contact” with a teacher by kissing her while the pair were inside her classroom. Both Rose and the teacher were married to other people at the time they exchanged this kiss – which the termination letter goes on to note was “reported to school officials by multiple parents.”
Rose’s letter suggests that the teacher in question eventually decided to break off contact with the police officer, and she reportedly told him “not to contact her five times” between March 18 and March 26. In spite of her expressed wishes, Rose emailed the teacher on March 26. Over the course of the next three days, he allegedly used his personal computer to access her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and according to the termination letter, he subsequently deleted photos, unblocked [him]self, and activated a location tracking feature to her Instagram account.”
The termination letter accuses Rose of violating several state laws through his behavior, including the statutes pertaining to cyberstalking, computer trespassing, and telephone harassment. His alleged violations included making repeated phone calls “for the purpose of abusing, annoying, threatening, harassing, or embarrassing” the recipient; using email for the same abusive purposes; “knowingly install[ing], plac[ing], or [using] an electronic tracking device” without the other party’s consent; and “alter[ing] or eras[ing] any computer data, computer programs, or computer software.”
In addition to these statutory violations, the letter accuses Roses of transgressing the city’s personnel policies by engaging in conduct that disrupted government operations, reflected adversely on the city or its staff, and undermined “harmonious working relationships with the public and employees.” He also allegedly breached the police department’s own policy by engaging in on- or off-duty conduct that he should’ve realized was “unbecoming of a member of th[e] department, is contrary to good order, efficiency, or morale, or tends to reflect unfavorably upon th[e] department or its members.”
Rose’s termination letter notes that he ultimately met with assistant police chiefs Josh Light and Nick Wright on April 30 in order discuss his behavior. Wright, who penned the subsequent termination letter, recalled that Rose had tried to mitigate his actions during this confab by asserting that he had taken “ownership” of his behavior. Rose told the two assistant chiefs that “‘I realized I made a mistake’ and ‘I have no one to blame but myself.’” He also stressed that he had been “forthcoming and honest with the Internal Affairs investigator,” observed that “the victim does not wish to prosecute,” explained that he was “just looking for answers as to why” the aforementioned teacher had soured on him, and proffered his own belief “in second chances.”
“Lastly, you stated that you did not refute any of the allegations nor the findings of fact, except the statements made regarding activating her Instagram account’s location settings,” Wright went on to recount. “Having considered the totality of the circumstances,” he nevertheless added, “it is my decision to terminate your employment with the city of Burlington effective immediately.”
According to the city’s personnel office, Rose ended his tenure with the title of Police Officer I and an annual salary of $76,717.16.
Other police department actions
The city of Burlington also notified The Alamance News about actions against four other employees at the city’s police department. These actions included the two-day suspensions of 54-year-old master police officer David Grutsky and police officer Brian Schuster in February and April of this year. According to the city’s personnel office, Grutsky has worked for the city since April 1, 2008 and currently earns a salary of $97,988.80 while Schuster, who joined the staff on July 1, 2022, presently receives $64,833.60 a year.
Meanwhile, the police department severed its ties altogether with 24-year-old Zontrae Yancey, who joined the agency as a Police Officer I on May 26, 2023. Yancey was still on probation when the department informed him of his dismissal on January 8, 2024. The agency’s termination letter doesn’t provide any details about the reason for this separation. It nevertheless notes that, because Yancey’s status was probationary, his termination “may not be appealed and is not grievable.” It also alludes to a pending worker’s comp claim that would apparently not be affected by the change in his status, “and you will receive payments through that process until resolution.” According to the city’s personnel department, Yancey’s salary at the time of his termination was $55,410.94.
The department was a bit more explicit in its decision to fire 32-year-old Amber Lamoreaux. A police services specialist who joined the city staff on July 11, 2022, Lamoreaux was ultimately dismissed on December 12, 2023 over “sustained violations of policy” that began on November 29 of that year.
In Lamoreaux’s termination letter, assistant police chief Chris Smith asserts that the police services specialist had engaged in “unprofessional conduct,” which disrupted the department’s normal operations and reflected adversely on the city and/or herself. The letter also alludes to an unspecified “failure to maintain satisfactory and harmonious working relationships,” her displays of conduct that she should’ve reasonably known was “unbecoming,” as well as “criminal, dishonest, or disgraceful conduct…that adversely affects the [staff] member’s relationship with this department.” The letter further accuses Lamoreaux of “being untruthful or knowingly making false, misleading, or malicious statements that are reasonably calculated to harm the reputation, authority, or official standing of this department or its members,” and making “disparaging remarks or [engaging in] conduct concerning duly-constituted authority that…disrupt[ed] the efficiency of this department or subvert[ed its] good order, efficiency, and discipline.”
In the termination letter, assistant chief Smith points out that Lamoreaux had a chance to plead her case in a disciplinary meeting with Wright and himself on December 12.
“You provided no substantive information that changed the course of this decision,” he went on to add. “Having considered the totality of circumstances, it is my decision to terminate your employment from the city effective immediately.”
Lamoreaux’s pay at the time of her dismissal was $35,399 a year.
Recreation and Parks
Burlington’s recreation department parted ways with 19 people during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2024. Most of these individuals were either part-time or seasonal employees who were let go because they were no longer needed or who received no formal termination letter from the city. Two of them, however, did receive this sort of communiqué.
On June 24, the personnel office dispatched a termination letter to Stacy M. King, who had worked for the city as a part-time “aqua fitness” instructor since August 11, 2022. In this gently-worded missive, Debbie Thomas, the city’s personnel director, expressed her gratitude to the 40-year-old King for her contribution to the water safety instruction component of the city’s aqua fitness program.
“Clearly you are passionate about this program,” Thomas goes on to acknowledge. “However, there are times in an organization when rules are set for reasons and, as individual employees, we do not have the latitude to effect changes of our own design.”
Thomas alludes to “several” occasions when King apparently strayed from her figurative lane and, moreover, “continued conversations through text messages that c[a]me across as argumentative and inappropriate.”
“For this reason,” the city’s personnel director added, “we are asking that once separated, you refrain from communications, discussions or text messages regarding the aquatics programming for the city of Burlington.”
According to the personnel office, King’s hourly pay was $18.05 when she was terminated.
A month earlier, Kwisha Levette Bivens, the city’s 44-year-old afterschool program and day camp director, received a termination letter from Leah Podolle, the recreation department’s youth programming supervisor. In her missive, Podolle outlined a series of attendance-related lapses that convinced her to fire the part-time-subordinate, who had worked for the city since June 6, 2016. These breaches included five occasions since October 4, 2023 when Bivens had failed to notify Podolle or other coworkers that she would be late or unavailable for work. Podolle also mentioned three dates when Bivens claimed to have worked but apparently didn’t.
“I have previously asked you to correct incidences where this happened,” Podolle added, “and given you the benefit of the doubt by accepting your explanation that [these were] input errors.”
The final straw apparently occurred after Bivens failed to show up for her afterschool program on Tuesday, May 21. The following day, Bivens allegedly tried to put one over on the city’s youth programming supervisor by concocting stories about what she had done at the afterschool session.
“When you came into my office,” Podolle recalled in the termination letter, “you made up interactions at afterschool on Tuesday that you could not have had. That further discredited you…This is fraudulent and cannot be allowed.”
Podolle added that this inventiveness prompted her to go back over Bivens’ time sheet, which led her to find two dates earlier that month when the day camp director had reported hours she never actually worked.
Podolle went on to inform Bivens that she was not only terminated effective immediately but that her May paycheck would be docked for the times she did not come in to work.
Bivens’ wage at the time of her termination was $18.47, according to the city’s personnel office.
Water resources
The city’s water resources division cut three people loose during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2024.
The most eventful of these dismissals concerned 34-year-old Dewey Brockwell, who had worked for the city since September 1, 2018. On January 10, 2024, Bob Patterson, the city’s water services director, informed Brockwell that he would be immediately removed from his post as a wastewater plant operator due to ongoing substance abuse issues. This problem culminated with an apparent drug overdose that led to Brockwell’s hospitalization a couple of weeks earlier.
Patterson went on to recount that Brockwell admitted he had used “illegal drugs at a party” on December 23. He also told both police and his supervisors that he had “used cocaine before,” despite “being dishonest when initially asked about these issues.”
Patterson recalled that this overdose led to a personnel investigation, which adumbrated that Brockwell’s alleged substance abuse was more than a pardonable peccadillo.
“Your personal behaviors with drugs and alcohol are [a] current and ongoing concern for the safety of the staff, citizens of Burlington, and yourself,” the city’s water resource director added. “That is why there is a substance abuse policy and why employees have the right to a drug and alcohol-free workplace.”
Patterson proceeded to mention two other disciplinary lapses in Brockwell’s personnel file – a verbal warning that he received in 2019 for his personal use of a cell phone during work hours and his “unsafe use of an accelerant” while he worked for the city’s recreation department. According to the city’s personnel office, Brockwell ended his tenure with a salary of $42,022.24.
Prior to Brockwell’s dismissal, the water resources division sent a termination letter to 31-year-old Daniel Bright, who had joined the water resources division as a wastewater plant operator on December 5, 2022. On October 12, 2023, Bright was informed that he needn’t show up to work anymore because he had twice failed to pass the operator’s exam. According to its termination letter, the water resource division had extended Bright’s probationary period and provided him with additional training when he first botched the test. Yet, these added concessions weren’t enough for him to clinch the score that he needed for state certification, which would’ve enabled him to work solo shifts at the city’s wastewater treatment plants. According to the personnel office, Bright’s pay at the time of his departure was $41,198.30.
Several months later, the division dismissed 28-year-old Khalid Hasan Mimms from his probationary post as a level-two water and sewer utility worker. Mimms, who had joined the city staff on May 13, 2023, was let go on June 7, 2024 for reasons that are spelled out in his termination letter.
“The decision was based on several factors, including your time and attendance record, your lack of interest in learning some of the required job functions, and distraction with your phone,” the letter asserts. “Failure to follow call-in procedures on occasions when you did not come in to work or left early…was certainly a concern.”
The city’s personnel office notes that Mimms’ pay, at the end of his tenure, amounted to $32,908.88.
Code enforcement
Alleged substance abuse problems also cut short the career of 53-year-old Reynolds Kenyon Morrow, who had worked for the city as a code enforcement officer since September 9, 2023.
On May 7, 2024, Chris Marland, the city’s chief code enforcement officer, notified Morrow that he had been terminated due to the fallout from a motor vehicle crash that he had in a departmental vehicle. Marland declared that Morrow not only failed to report the accident to his supervisor or to the police but, according to subsequent revelations, he may not have been in the best state of mind to operate a motor vehicle at the time of the wreck.
“The results of your post-accident drug screen indicated that you were positive for an illegal substance,” Marland explained before adding that Morrow had tested positive for cocaine “during a reasonable suspicion test” that he received on May 1, 2024.
In a subsequent disciplinary hearing, Morrow apparently admitted to “recent, past use of a substance at a party.” He also acknowledged his failure to report the aforementioned accident, which Marland found to be “truthful” but insufficient to forestall his dismissal. According to the city’s personnel office, Morrow was receiving a salary of $53,700.14 at the time of his termination.
Animal services
The two people dismissed by the city’s animal services department over the past year were also rather new to the city’s payroll.
According to the city’s personnel office, 21-year-old Jai’Lynn Chambers had joined the department as a temporary, part-time administrative support specialist on August 1, 2023 – only to be let go on January 11, 2024. In her termination letter, Jessica Arias, the city’s animal services director, details a number of transgressions that Chambers allegedly committed during her short time with the city.
“There have been multiple examples of instances…during which you demonstrated a pattern of unsatisfactory work performance,” Arias said. “[These] included your failure to perform all of your duties completely and proficiently, failure to maintain cooperative, harmonious relationships with co-workers and supervisors, failure to provide satisfactory customer service to citizens, failure to remain at your work station as scheduled, and failure to accept reasonable and proper assignments of your supervisor.”
Arias went on to observe that Chamber’s defiance of her supervisor constituted “insubordination” under the city’s personnel policies. According to the city’s personnel office, Chamber’s pay at the time of her departure was $15.82 an hour.
Meanwhile, on March 18, Arias issued a termination letter to 33-year-old Jonathan Lee Tabor, who had come to work for the city as a vet care specialist on December 1, 2023. Arias informed Tabor that she had decided to cut his 6-month probationary period short due to his failure to complete all of his job duties, which included tasks such as intravenous injections, surgical assistance, and identifying the ages of young dogs and cats.
“You have not been successful in these areas,” she added. “We thank you for your contributions to the city and wish you well in your future endeavors.”
According to the city’s personnel office, Tabor was getting paid $41,816.32 a year before he left the city’s employ.
