Former Wilmington zoning administrator sues city, claims she was pressured to resign

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A former senior staff member has filed a lawsuit against the City of Wilmington, alleging she was pressured to resign from her position.

According to the lawsuit filed Friday, former zoning administrator Kathryn Thurston claims she was dismissed during the city’s reorganization and restructuring of staff.

Thurston worked for the city for 19 years. The lawsuit states her employment ended after she sought a permit to build an accessory dwelling unit on her property within the city.

According to the complaint, Thurston’s permit application was incorrectly classified, resulting in her unintentionally issuing an invoice to herself. The lawsuit alleges the city failed to follow its personnel policies when terminating her employment.

WWAY spoke with City Manager Becky Hawke, who said any employee departures were unrelated to the city’s recent organizational restructuring.

“Anybody who no longer works for the city, that had nothing to do with these changes that we made to our organizational structures, so want to completely separate those two. I realize that the timing — it’s kind of natural for people to try and kind of put them together,” Hawke said.

A spokesperson for the City of Wilmington told WWAY the city cannot comment on the lawsuit because the matter is pending litigation.