After fresh bribery allegations raised in a new Portsmouth lawsuit, ex-city manager calls them ‘emphatically false’
A former Portsmouth deputy city manager hired under ex-City Manager Tonya Chapman has filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging she was wrongfully terminated after refusing a bribe from Chapman to resign.
Sunshine Swinson was hired on Nov. 14 with a salary of $150,000, and she parted ways with the city on Dec. 1. When The Virginian-Pilot reported the departure, it was unclear whether Swinson resigned or was terminated.
But in the lawsuit filed in Circuit Court this week, Swinson said she was first asked to resign and take the blame for a set of gift cards containing federal pandemic money that Chapman previously said might have been mismanaged under her predecessor, Angel Jones. When she refused, Swinson said she was fired.
Chapman strongly denied the allegations levied in the lawsuit, calling them “emphatically false.”
“Her dismissal had absolutely nothing to do with gift cards,” Chapman said in a statement to the Pilot.
Chapman said in November that an internal investigation with her staff found around $80,000 out of more than $3 million in gift cards earmarked for residents weren’t securely stored or might not have been properly accounted for and she questioned the process used for distributing the cards. Interim City Manager Mimi Terry has since said all cards were properly stored and accounted for. The City Council in December authorized $300,000 for a forensic audit into those allegations and other concerns, but it’s not clear whether the city is still pursuing the audit.
Chapman was fired by a supermajority of City Council members in early January.
Swinson’s lawsuit is filed against the city, which has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
The lawsuit does not name Chapman as a defendant, but it states Chapman asked Swinson on Nov. 30 to submit her resignation and sign a letter stating she provided Chapman with misinformation about the alleged missing gift cards. The lawsuit asserts Chapman told Swinson to “lie to city officials and investigators regarding an expected investigation into the gift cards” as Chapman was concerned for her own employment with the city.
Swinson also alleged that Chapman attempted to bribe her with various promises and benefits, including a $37,500 payout and two additional weeks of pay if Swinson submitted her resignation. Chapman also offered to bring Swinson back as a paid consultant earning $150,000 per year and told Swinson that “no one would know,” according to the lawsuit.
Chapman also allegedly offered to rehire Swinson at an annual salary of $175,000 if “the gift card controversy went away and Chapman kept her job.”
Swinson said in her lawsuit that she refused to participate in the “cover up,” and was asked to “think about it further” before she was ultimately locked out of the city computer system, work place and city-issued cellphone that same afternoon. The following day, Swinson said she was fired by Chapman and that no reason had been provided.
Chapman declined to state why Swinson was dismissed, but she said the termination and resignation letters were already prepared and ready to be executed on Nov. 30 when she offered Swinson the opportunity to resign. Chapman said she then received an email the following morning from Swinson’s attorney with false allegations regarding the gift card issue, so she “terminated her immediately.”
Before Swinson’s departure, she signed a severance agreement the day she was hired that states she is entitled to six months of her salary if terminated. In her 10-page lawsuit, Swinson is asking for $1.1 million for three counts including breach of contract, actual or constructive fraud and wrongful discharge.
Swinson’s attorney, Kevin Martingayle, told The Pilot Wednesday that the city’s refusal to grant the severance has “led to a much bigger problem.”
“If the city had simply honored its contract, then Ms. Swinson would not have been forced to bring this litigation,” he said. “The city made this mess happen.”
Jones filed her own lawsuit against the city in November, alleging wrongful termination and political corruption involving the City Council members who voted to abruptly fire her in May and replace her with Chapman. In Jones’ suit, Swinson is mentioned in connection with bribery allegations.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
