A lawsuit filed against Patrick Madigan and Scott Dameron – the director and deputy director of Lexington’s Department of Public Works, respectively – has been dismissed with prejudice, according to filings made in Rockbridge County Circuit Court recently.
The suit, which was filed by Celia Raney, former arborist for the city of Lexington, alleged that Madigan and Dameron had created a work environment that “became so intolerable” that she felt she had to resign, and had done so after she had said that the accidental removal of several trees from the riparian buffer along the Maury River in Jordan’s Point Park should be reported to the state.
The trees were removed on March 1, 2023, as part of a planned tree removal in the park, and Raney claimed in her suit that she was not informed of the proposed removal and only heard about it after the trees had been removed that morning upon receiving a call from a co-worker.
In their response to her suit, Dameron and Madigan said that Dameron, who oversaw the removal of the trees, called Raney once it became clear that trees that were not supposed to be removed had been and were not aware of any other calls that she may or may not have received that morning.
Raney alleged that, in subsequent conversations with Madigan and Dameron regarding the tree removal at the park, that Madigan had seemed dismissive and at one point “laughed at the matter,” and Dameron had been “visibly angry” and had become frustrated when she began discussing the cost of repairing the riparian buffer with him and objected to removal of the tree stumps.
Madigan and Dameron acknowledged that conversations had taken place and that the topics Raney mentioned were discussed, but denied her allegations regarding their demeanor during the conversations.
A few days later, about a week after the initial removal, crews from the Public Works Department damaged several saplings along the riverbed in the park while removing debris, which Raney claimed was done “as a sign of retaliation against her.” Madigan and Dameron acknowledged that the damage did occur, but denied Raneys allegations of intent.
A few weeks later, the Public Works Department underwent a restructuring and Raney was informed by Madigan that she would no longer report to him but would report to Dameron instead.
Raney alleged that over the course of the following month, Dameron’s “aggressive behavior” toward her increased and that he had created “fictitious problems, invented issues with which to nitpick [her] and create a paper trail to support a decision to terminate [her] employment.”
Raney claimed that she believed that she was “about to be terminated,” and submitted her resignation on May 11, 2023, which went into effect on May 19. The lawsuit was filed on May 23.
Madigan and Dameron acknowledged that there was a restructuring of the department in late March, but denied Raney’s other allegations.
The suit was scheduled for a three-day jury trial next week, but a request to dismiss the suit with prejudice – meaning the suit cannot be refilled – was submitted by Raney’s attorney on Oct. 7 and was granted.
No details regarding reasons for the request were included in the filing, and attorneys for both parties did not respond to requests for comment.
