Embattled city attorney John Houton, taking legal action against Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and other city officials, claimed his suspension and the impediments to his mayoral bid were acts of retaliation by the Wu administration. According to a Boston Globe report, Houton’s lawsuit asserts that his administrative leave was directly linked to his decision to challenge Wu in the mayoral race.
In a complaint stretching 74 pages, Houton accused the city of effectively ending his career, tarnishing his professional standing, and equated his suspension to constructive dismissal that, also impeded on his mayoral campaign. “The city maliciously suspended plaintiff because it was their intent to thwart plaintiff’s candidacy,” Houton stated in his lawsuit filed on Nov. 3, as detailed in a Boston Herald article. His allegations included likening the city’s stringent requirements for mayoral candidates to a “dead-end street” that inherently favored incumbents or well-resourced challengers.
Upon his suspension, a statement from the city justified the actions as necessary to maintain a “non-political” stance within the Law Department. Meanwhile, pursuant to this reasoning, the city highlighted, Mayor Wu’s detachment from the issue, affirming that all decisions regarding Houton’s employment were managed by the city’s Human Resources department, with the guidance of external counsel. Nevertheless, the litigation points out discrepencies, citing Kerry Augustin, another city employee who bid for mayorship and remained at work, as noted by the Herald…