By Steve Harrison
sharrison@charlotteobserver.com

Charlotte City Council member Warren Turner will appeal his firing by the N.C. Department of Correction, according to his attorney, who said the department was searching for a reason to terminate Turner.

Turner, who was the subject of a city of Charlotte investigation into sexual harassment earlier this year, was dismissed on Monday by the DOC, where he worked for 20 years as a probation officer.

The DOC said it found no evidence that Turner made sexually inappropriate comments or harassed female probationers. In a one-paragraph news release Tuesday, the DOC said Turner "did not follow directives from his chain of command, which resulted in his dismissal for unacceptable personal conduct."

Turner's attorney, Eric Montgomery, said the reasons listed by the DOC in a letter to his client were "procedural BS."

He declined to send the Observer a copy of the DOC's letter telling Turner why he was fired.

"It's several pages of things they found," Montgomery said. "There were issues with his files, and some other issues. A number of things dated back to more than a year, and he had a good performance review since then."

Montgomery said the DOC had decided it wanted to fire Turner and then looked for a way to do so.

"It's apparent to me, that they made a decision," Montgomery said.

Turner and his attorney have said repeatedly that Turner didn't do anything wrong.

Personnel files of N.C. public employees are private. However, officials can choose to release information if officials believe that releasing the information is "essential to maintaining the integrity of the department or to maintaining the level of services provided by such department."

Earlier this year, N.C. DOC Secretary Alvin Keller released some information from Turner's personnel file, including a letter informing Turner that he was being moved to a desk job, and that his state-issued weapon and car were being temporarily revoked.

The DOC has refused to explain in more detail why Turner was fired. The Observer has asked for more information about the termination, because Turner is an elected official.

Charlotte City Council member David Howard, a Democrat like Turner, voted against censuring Turner in May after a city investigation said five city employees alleged that Turner made sexually inappropriate comments to them.

Howard said he had no comment when asked if the state should give more details about Turner's firing.

"I am not getting in on that one," Howard said.

Republican Warren Cooksey, who also voted against censuring Turner, said he didn't have an opinion whether the state should release more information.

"That's up to them," he said. "It's their call."

An outside investigator said that at least five city employees, dating to 1988, said Turner made sexually inappropriate comments to them. Two of the employees said they didn't want to be alone with Turner.

Council members voted 6-3 against censuring Turner.

Turner was first elected to the City Council in 2003. He is up for reelection in 2011.
 

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