The Kansas City Council will pay half a million dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by Andrea Dorch, formerly one of the highest-ranking Black women at City Hall as the head of the Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Department. She alleged that the city, and particularly former city manager Brian Platt, forced her out of that office because she objected to the city reportedly letting tech company Meta break diversity rules in constructing a Northland data center.
The city paid a private contractor to surveil Dorch as part of an investigation into whether she broke the city's requirement that all its employees reside primarily in Kansas City, Missouri. She sued the city and Platt in March 2024.
The ordinance passed on a 9-4 vote. Council members Kevin O'Neill, Nathan Willett, Wes Rogers and Melissa Patterson Hazley voted against the settlement.
During the meeting, council members also approved a $400,000 settlement for a 2022 crash involving a woman named Kenya Mitchell and a city fire truck.
Mitchell alleged that she was driving through the intersection of 43rd Street and Madison in Westport when a Kansas City Fire Department fire truck drove through a red light and crashed into her vehicle, according to KMBC.
Mitchell claims she suffered a traumatic brain injury, broken bones and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the accident.
The ordinance to close out her lawsuit passed 12-1, with council member Nathan Willett casting the sole vote against.
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