Too transparent? Horry Schools fired longtime spokeswoman for telling truth, she alleges
Horry County Schools fired its longtime public information officer for being too transparent with information it preferred to keep hidden, she’s alleging in a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Teal Britton, who worked in the district’s communications department from 1993 until being terminated in 2020, connected her dismissal to the closely scrutinized $220 million building projects that prompted a state law enforcement investigation.
First Floor Energy was awarded the contracts to build five new “energy-positive” schools despite being the most expensive bidder, and only after conversations with district officials and board members led them to rewrite their Request for Proposal to fit the company’s pitch.
Joe DeFeo, school board chairman at the time, signed the contracts without having the authority to do so and prior to a final review by district administration, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday against the district and its board.
Lack of transparency
Southern Asphalt, DeFeo’s former employer, was then named a subcontractor on the project and given authority to make determinations about other subcontractors involved, the complaint states.
The district was getting numerous Freedom of Information Act requests from media regarding subcontractors, but First Floor was refusing.
“The CEO of Firstfloor told (Britton): ‘I can hire who I want and I can pay them what I want,’” the complaint states. “The Board thereafter consistently declined to press for transparency with respect to the terms of the contracts for subcontractors.”
DeFeo, now deceased, instructed Britton and others in the communications department to “apply excess fees” to discourage public information requests, according to the complaint.
Britton, the public information officer for nearly 20 years by that time, ended up issuing a statement on behalf of district administrators insisting it was their belief that the public had the right to know how its tax dollars were being spent.
“The communication between Horry County Schools and (First Floor CEO) Robbie Ferris show a clear difference of opinion between the school district administration and the design-build contractor regarding the terms of the signed contract as it relates to openness and accessibility of pertinent information related to the building of our new schools,” she said, as printed in a Sun News story published in April 2017.
The statement angered DeFeo and his allies on the board, who then pressured Superintendent Rick Maxey to change Britton’s position, she alleges.
Termination
Her title was changed to director of internal communication and staff engagement around September 2017. At the same time, another position was created called director of strategic communications and community engagement, the complaint states.
Britton alleges the new position, which went to Lisa Bourcier, included essentially all the duties that were previously Britton’s, and the timing indicates the motive was to keep her from responding to public information requests.
Bourcier, who remains in her position, declined to comment on behalf on the district, noting it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Former board member Holly Heniford told The Sun News that Bourcier was hired to serve as “the voice of the board” because they didn’t feel the communications department at the time was providing appropriate information from their perspective to combat the negative publicity.
“We wanted someone working specifically for us,” she said. “It was to have control over what was going to the public from us.”
David Cox, a current board member who was also on the board at the time, declined to comment, while fellow board members Neil James and Janet Graham couldn’t immediately be contacted.
Britton “did her best to go along with the staffing changes,” but she began to notice supervisors criticizing her for minor infractions, she alleges.
That “nit-pickiness” culminated in May 2020, when she was placed on administrative leave after she provided graduation statistics to an inquiring Coastal Carolina University official, and her supervisor falsely claimed he wasn’t aware of that interaction, according to the complaint.
District administrators encouraged Britton to resign, but she refused, and she received a formal termination letter Aug. 6, 2020. The board subsequently denied her right to a grievance hearing, the complaint states.
Britton, through her attorney Paul Porter, decline to add any additional comments at this time, noting the allegations in the complaint provide plenty of details.
Another employment lawsuit
Britton is now the second high-ranking district official to allege wrongful termination in connection to dealings with building contracts.
Mark Wolfe, former HCS facilities director, alleged a district administrator conspired with a contractor to have him fired because he was perceived as a barrier to the companies’ monopoly over the building projects.
Wolfe’s position was eliminated when, at the recommendation of Superintendent Maxey, the board voted during a June 2020 to eliminate 11 positions from the facilities department.
Wolfe’s lawsuit is ongoing, according to Horry County court records.
Britton’s complaint notes that she was asked to resign about the same time the district approved a reduction in workforce that impacted two senior administrators who also had knowledge of transparency issues related to the building projects.
Porter could not immediately confirm if Wolfe was one of those being referenced.
SLED investigation
The school district revealed in 2019 that its $220 million deal with First Floor prompted a SLED investigation that began as early as December 2015. A SLED spokesman did not return an voicemail message 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.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 4:14 PM.
