PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Angel Jones, the former Portsmouth City Manager, has refiled her lawsuit against the city.
Jones decided to take legal action against the city after she was fired during a heated city council meeting in May of 2022. In the civil lawsuit initially filed by Jones and her legal team, she claims wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She also alleges public corruption within city leadership.
On Tuesday, April 4, Jones and her legal team filed a nonsuit in order to update parts of the lawsuit they had initially filed.
"The city would not agree to our routine request to amend the Complaint to reflect a number of events which have transpired since we filed the original action," Steve Heretick, one of Jones’ lawyers, said in a statement. "Our basic claims have not changed as you will see in our refiling later.”
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The updated lawsuit has since been filed, and court documents reveal the additional claims and allegations Jones and her lawyers added to the suit, as well as an update on who will hear the case.
Court documents obtained by News 3 include a letter from Heretick to the Clerk of the Portsmouth Circuit Court. In the letter, Heretick says the Judges of the Portsmouth Circuit Court recused themselves from the case. He says parties were made aware of the judges’ recusals in January 2023.
The letter also states that Judge Randall D. Smith was designated by the Supreme Court of Virginia to hear the case, a decision Heretick says he does not oppose.
News 3 also obtained Jones’ refiled lawsuit.
Most of the lawsuit’s language remained the same. However, Jones and her team added several extra notes that describe her claims in further detail, including the alleged misconduct of some of the city’s council members and her alleged wrongful termination.
A summary of some of the new allegations and claims Jones and her legal team added to the refiled lawsuit are as follows, according to court documents:
- Jones suffered emotional distress from her employer (the City of Portsmouth), which caused her to experience a gradually incurred injury and repetitive trauma.
- Repeated instances of harassment at the hands of the city, as well as the actions and misconduct of Vice Mayor Barnes, Councilman Battle, Councilman Woodard and Councilman Whitaker, caused injury to Jones gradually over a 15-month period.
- There was an instance when Vice Mayor Barnes, Councilman Battle, Councilman Woodard and Councilman Whitaker were in the office and “effectively hijacked the legitimate governmental functions” of the city council and “effectively turned the [city council] into a criminal enterprise,” thus placing their personal interests over the citizens’ interests.
- Jones was terminated after she refused to “aid and abet, or to otherwise turn a blind eye to the unlawful conduct of the four [city council] members.”
- If she had cooperated with the four city council members’ unlawful demands, she could have subjected herself to violations of the criminal laws of the Commonwealth, including the following: conspiracy to commit larceny, embezzlement of public funds, misuse of public assets and more.
Jones and her lawyers are still requesting a trial by jury.
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We are following this case closely. Stay with News 3 for updates.
