The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Kimberly Carson in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, names top current and former City of Wilmington employees, referring to them as an “incredibly dysfunctional group.”
The suit intersects with two other high-profile stories concerning the city: the DWI arrest and subsequent lack of prosecution of Deputy City Manager Mary Vigue, and the $75,000 third-party investigation into the Wilmington Police Department and other city issues.
Carson was hired as the city’s director of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the spring of 2024. According to her lawsuit, she got a less-than-warm welcome, and did not receive the typical “meet and greet,” “department culture review,” and “review [of] performance expectations” designed to help new employees get a sense of their workplace, procedures, and job responsibilities. Less than a year later, she was out, fired after confronting what she claimed were issues of systemic racism.
According to the lawsuit, several months after starting work, Carson was asked to review a third-party investigation into WPD, performed by the U.S. ISS Agency. The investigation was supposed to focus on workplace issues in the police department, including allegations of bullying, harassment, mismanagement, and other issues.
The investigation results were never released to the public, but according to the suit, Carson felt that there were serious issues, including her allegations of conflicts of interest, bias, and failure to interview important sources. The suit calls the investigation “shockingly one-sided” and a “gross waste of public funds,” and notes that Carson shared those sentiments with top city staff.
Carson’s suit also alleges that a third of the $75,000 paid to ISS went toward an investigation into an unnamed “high-profile African American female employed by the city,” which Carson also apparently felt was unwarranted. The suit alleges city officials were not honest about how the money was allocated by not revealing this.
By that same time period, Carson’s suit also claims she had repeatedly witnessed the public and on-the-clock intoxication of Deputy City Manager Mary Vigue, who was her supervisor.
Over a year earlier, Vigue was arrested for a DUI and later put on unpaid suspension by the city. Due to a technicality, the case was dismissed; the arresting officer had left the Sheriff’s Office by the time of Vigue’s court date, and a judge denied the prosecution’s request to postpone the case to find another officer who could testify. Then, due to the state’s relatively new 2020 Second Chance Act, Vigue's record was automatically expunged. The District Attorney’s office, which had initially said it wanted to refile charges, later determined it would be “unfair” selective prosecution to reopen the case against Vigue.
According to Carson’s suit, Vigue “provided little oversight” for and “showed little interest” in her work. Despite this, in late December of 2024, Vigue allegedly penned a glowing review of Carson, writing that Carson had “done a great job.” According to the suit, it was Carson’s only evaluation prior to her termination.
Over this same time period from May to November of 2024, Carson alleges she witnessed systemic racism first-hand, including the stereotyping of “centered around the ‘angry Black woman’ trope.” The suit alleges that “African American employees of the city, including those in positions of leadership, were going to be treated differently,” in offensive and pejorative ways. Carson claims that, at one point, she was counseled by a Black deputy city manager that she should essentially tone down her delivery, because “being direct as a Black person in the South could be perceived negatively,” adding that “it could be even more problematic as a Black woman.”
According to the suit, Carson repeatedly brought issues to then-City Manager Tony Caudle, who she claims took no meaningful action.
In early 2025, Carson was verbally notified that she was the subject of a workplace investigation. By mid-February, she had retained legal counsel, feeling the city was actively trying to “get rid of her.”
Eventually, in early March, Carson filed a grievance against Caudle, Vigue, the city attorney, HR director, and others, “for failure to uphold the City’s stated core values and ethical and legal standards, leading to a hostile work environment, retaliation, discrimination, and severe breaches of workplace integrity.”
Caudle wrote her a letter saying her concerns were “not greivable” and she was fired the next day, based on claims that she had shown a pattern of lateness and unprofessional conduct, including harassing and intimidating colleagues, and "interrupting and dominating conversations." Carson alleges she had no notice of the allegations ahead of time and was given no opportunity to respond.
Carson’s suit claims the city’s actions violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in several ways, as well as other violations of the U.S. and North Carolina constitutions. The suit makes seven claims in total, asking for $75,000 in damages for each, in addition to legal fees. She is being represented by Wilmington attorney Gary Shipman, who filed her complaint and shared it with the media on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the city said it had not yet been legally served and therefore had no comment.
Below: The complaint filed in federal court this week.
