Woman awarded $257K for illegal firing after blowing whistle on St. Louis tow lot scandal
A federal jury on Thursday awarded more than $257,000 to a longtime city employee who was fired after she reported potentially improper and illegal activity at the city's tow lot. Angelica Woods, a former St. Louis tow lot worker, has been awarded $257K for illegally firing her after she became a whistleblower in 2021 after she complained about vehicles being missing and fees being charged at the lot. Her claims claim that the city and its former streets director, Jamie Wilson, ignored her complaints and found an excuse to fire her. The city argued that the lot's history was a distraction and that Woods was fired due to an argument with a coworker. The verdict is a significant blow to the scandal-ridden tow lot, where the city takes thousands of abandoned or illegally parked vehicles each year.
Published : 4 weeks ago by katie kull, Katie Kull in
Angelica Woods became a whistleblower in 2021 when she complained to her supervisors and news media that vehicles were going missing and people were being charged extra fees at the lot on Hall Street.
But the city and its former streets director Jamie Wilson did not address her complaints, Woods' attorneys argued at trial this week. Instead, they found an excuse to fire her.
The verdict is the latest blow to the scandal-ridden tow lot where the city takes thousands of abandoned or illegally parked vehicles each year. Previous investigations of the lot led to the 2008 resignation of police Chief Joe Mokwa and criminal charges against two workers in 2014.
But city attorneys argued during the four-day trial this week that the lot's troubled history was a "distraction," and Woods was fired because of an abusive argument she had with a coworker.
Woods' suit said she noticed other problems, too — people underpaying for vehicles at auction and workers overcharging fees. And the lot worked as a sort of buddy system where people covered for each others' wrongdoing and nobody raised the alarm, she said. She was marginalized.
Then, in 2021, two days after she sent a whistleblower letter to the streets department, Woods got a letter announcing she was being terminated, her former attorney, Lynette Petruska, said in a recording played in court.
The city said Woods had made a false report to police about items being stolen out of a car, illegally recorded a conversation between supervisors, and had a public shouting match with another tow lot employee where she made an abusive comment about the other woman's gender.
But Woods testified that she was not the aggressor. The other employee, who worked on the tow lot, had been harassing and bullying Woods for months. She also had a history of workplace violence and harassment violations, said Woods' attorney, Kevin Kasper.
But the other woman was not fired, while Woods was called in for a termination hearing handled by the streets director, Wilson. It was the only time he oversaw such a proceeding himself, Kasper said.
Woods was fired in February 2021. Since then, she testified, she's developed health problems. She separated from her husband and has been raising her three children — two of whom have Autism — by herself.
As for the tow lot, city officials said during trial they have addressed accounting and other problems raised during the 2022 audit. They also noted that investigations by law enforcement did not result in criminal charges for any employees.