A former director of Raleigh’s Solid Waste Services (SWS) department is suing the city for allegedly retaliating against him and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), claims that the city denies.
Stan Joseph’s lawsuit, which has not previously been reported, coincides with complaints from current SWS employees that point to ongoing issues in the department. One SWS driver spoke publicly about safety concerns on the job earlier this summer, and INDY spoke to several more who agree that there are safety and management problems under SWS’s new leadership.
Joseph served as director of SWS from July 2018 until he was put on administrative leave in July 2024 and subsequently fired in November 2024. In his lawsuit—which he filed last summer and has continued to update as recently as last week—Joseph says he complained to his supervisors about the city’s “dysfunctional Human Resources department” several times in 2020 and 2021, flagging “specific areas of policy, practice, compliance and law violations” in the HR department “that were concerning and negatively impacting employees.” Joseph claims he brought his concerns to an assistant city manager, the HR director, the assistant to the city manager, and city manager Marchell Adams-David, and they did not take action…