Richmond officials have settled a prolonged legal battle with a former public records employee who claims she was wrongfully fired after sharing concerns about transparency law violations.
Connie Clay, who was the city’s Freedom of Information Act officer from July 2023 to January 2024, initially filed a civil whistleblower lawsuit in March 2024. At the time, the defendants were city officials including then-Mayor Levar Stoney and and Petula Burks, former director of the city’s Office of Strategic Communications and Civic Engagement.
Clay’s lawsuit alleged she was told to withhold information requested through FOIA and was eventually “silenced” before Burks fired her for raising issues with the city’s potential FOIA violations…