Another Allentown employee is suing the city in federal court, claiming he was wrongfully and illegally fired for cooperating with an outside investigator hired by City Council.
John Ferry, a former human resources coordinator and risk claims analyst for the city, was fired by Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk in late 2025 for retaliatory and illegal reasons, the lawsuit argues.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania by Ferry’s lawyer, Marc Weinstein.
It is the fifth recent lawsuit from a current or former employee against the city. Tatiana Tooley, former human relations officer; Tawanna Whitehead, the city’s deputy city clerk; Nadeem Shahzad, former human resources director; and Karen Ocasio, former human resources generalist, also filed lawsuits claiming they faced illegal discrimination while employed by the city.
Shahzad’s complaint was dismissed by a federal judge; the other lawsuits are ongoing.
Allentown’s managing director, Frank Kane, said the city plans to “vigorously defend against this lawsuit.” The city has not yet filed a response in court.
Ferry was hired as a human resources coordinator for Allentown in October 2018. He served several roles in the human resources department including risk claims analyst, interim human resources director, and risk and safety manager, the suit states.
Following Tuerk’s election as mayor in 2021, multiple city employees made complaints about racial hostility in the city’s workforce, the lawsuit claims.
In June 2023, the Allentown NAACP published an open letter to Tuerk, accusing the mayor of failing to properly address discrimination among city employees. Tuerk has denied that he failed to address complaints and said discrimination is not tolerated in Allentown.
In response to the NAACP’s concerns, City Council in June 2024 voted to hire former FBI agent Scott Curtis to conduct an investigation into the alleged discrimination.
According to the lawsuit, Curtis reached out to Ferry for his investigation, and Ferry cooperated “as required by City policy.”
However, Tuerk at the time claimed that City Council’s hiring of Curtis was legally void because council did not follow proper procedures.
Some council members accused the mayor of attempting to obstruct the investigation, and in September 2024, council sued the mayor and city finance director in order to enforce the agreement with Curtis.
However, in late 2024, council suspended the lawsuit and Curtis’ investigation, and in early 2025, hired law firm Duane Morris to complete Curtis’ investigation as a compromise with the mayor and city administration.
According to the lawsuit, Ferry later was summoned to meet with attorneys David Macmain and Tricia Ambrose — who are representing the city in several employment-related lawsuits — in September.
In that meeting, the lawyers “combatively interrogated” Ferry about his cooperation with Curtis’ investigation, the suit says. Two months after that meeting, Ferry was fired with no explanation, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit also claims that Ferry was on a “list” of employees that Tuerk wanted to fire.
Tuerk’s change in attitude toward Ferry contrasted with the mayor’s previous admiration of his work, the lawsuit claims; after Ferry completed a 90-day stint as interim human resources director, Tuerk asked Ferry if he would serve permanently in the role. Ferry declined, although the suit does not say why.
The lawsuit claims that Ferry’s firing was illegal retaliation for his cooperation with Curtis’ investigation. He is seeking back pay and unspecified compensatory damage for the “mental anguish” caused by his firing.
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.