Horry Schools conspired with builders to remove facilities director, suit claims
Horry County Schools and the contractors it hired to build five new schools are now facing a defamation lawsuit from a recently departed high-ranking district official.
Mark Wolfe, who served as the school district’s facilities director as recently as last month, filed the complaint Tuesday against the district, First Floor Energy and Metcon. Many of the allegations stem from the building contract that has been the subject of a state law enforcement investigation.
Wolfe alleges Daryl Brown, HCS chief support services officer, conspired with Aaron Thomas, president and CEO of Metcon, to have him fired because he was perceived as a barrier to the companies’ monopoly over the building projects, which totaled $220 million. Brown, Thomas and HCS Superintendent Rick Maxey are also individually named as defendants in the suit.
False accusations stemming from Brown, Thomas, First Floor and Metcon resulted in Wolfe being placed on administrative leave on Aug. 14, 2018, and Maxey recommended his termination, the complaint states. The accusations involved Wolfe failing to comply with requirements in the South Carolina Code of Conduct for Public Officials and Employees.
Wolfe detailed communications in June and July 2018 among district staff about Metcon failing to respond to an important school security feature and some of that work going to a different vendor as a result. He also states in the complaint that he and other staff were against the release of a large amount of money requested by Metcon because their work wasn’t sufficiently complete.
Brown and Thomas first spoke about ending Wolfe’s employment July 27, 2018, at a lunch meeting, according to the complaint, and then several more times after that “for nefarious purposes.”
The complaint also details a conversation that allegedly occurred Aug. 11, 2018 — three days before Wolfe was placed on leave — between a district employee and Donald Godwin, owner of Southern Asphalt, which was a subcontractor of First Floor. During that conversation, Godwin allegedly told the employee that he had heard Wolfe was in trouble and about to lose his job, according to the suit.
“This is very troubling that someone connected to the First Floor Energy Positive Design-Build team would make such statements about Plaintiff and his employment,” the suit states.
Wolfe appealed Maxey’s termination recommendation to the school board, and he was reinstated in October, a day before the district processed the funds requested by Metcon, at Brown’s request, according to the complaint.
Efforts to end Wolfe’s employment didn’t end after his return, though as defendants they “merely bided their time for a second attempt at ousting” him, this time “using the guise of COVID-19 as a basis to propose a reduction in force,” he alleged in the suit.
At Maxey’s recommendation, the board on June 8, 2020, approved the elimination of 11 positions within the Facilities Department for the 2020-21 school year, noting that six of the positions were vacant, but there was no mention of which specific positions.
Maxey explained to the board that the district doesn’t expect any major building programs until at least 2025, and the eliminated positions would allow them to redirect more than $1 million in capital money toward modifications and sustainment.
Wolfe’s attorney, Shannon Polvi, said her client has filed a grievance arguing his position shouldn’t have been eliminated, and noted that only Wolfe and one other employee ended up losing their employment, as three others were given other jobs at HCS.
Board member David Cox confirmed that Wolfe’s position was one of the positions eliminated, but he was unaware of who the other employees were, or whether any still remained at the district.
HCS spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier confirmed that Wolfe’s with the district ended June 30 as a result of reorganization and workforce reduction, and added that HCS has no intention of reinstating that position in the foreseeable future. Regarding the lawsuit, she stated the district does not comment on pending litigation.
Cox said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit because he hadn’t seen it yet. Former HCS board member Holly Heniford, who served during Wolfe’s administrative leave, said she didn’t personally see anything during her time on the board that would warrant this lawsuit, adding that Wolfe did a good job in his position, and the situation is unfortunate.
An attorney representing Metcon called on behalf of Thomas and declined to comment because he hadn’t seen the suit. A spokesperson for First Floor Energy also declined to comment for the same reason.
The school district revealed last year that its $220 million deal with First Floor to build five new schools prompted a SLED investigation that began as early as Dec. 2015. A SLED spokesman did not return an email seeking information about whether that investigation is still ongoing.
A statement from the school district at the time revealed that communication between the CEO of First Floor Energy and a contracted school board attorney regarding the firm’s proposal began four months before its official presentation to the board.
The Sun News also reported that communication between the First Floor Energy CEO and the district’s facilities director at the time began at least five months before the board approved an initial design plan for the projects.
That former facilities director, Matt Dean, resigned in March 2015, and was replaced by Wolfe. Polvi noted that Wolfe would like to return to his job at HCS because he enjoys serving the students of Horry County.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 2:34 PM.
