Allentown is fighting the release of documents related to two discrimination-related investigations in a lawsuit filed by a city employee.
Attorneys for Tawanna Whitehead, Allentown’s deputy city clerk, are seeking documents provided to the city by former FBI agent Scott Curtis, owner of FLEO Investigations, and the Duane Morris law firm, both of which were hired by City Council to investigate alleged discrimination among City Hall employees.
Whitehead sued the city in late 2024, alleging a hostile and racist work environment, and specifically alleges racist comments made by City Council member Candida Affa.
Both Affa and the city have denied Whitehead’s claims. In court documents, the city also maintains that Whitehead suffered no legal damages and she failed to exhaust all “preventative or corrective opportunities” the city offered.
A subpoena seeks “any and all documents submitted to the City from Scott Curtis pertaining to his investigation” and “Any and all documents, including but not limited to reports and appendices, submitted to the City by the law firm of Duane Morris pertaining to their investigation.”
Allentown City Council in January hired Duane Morris to prepare a report on the city’s handling of alleged discrimination complaints and prepare suggestions on how the city could improve its handling of such cases.
The law firm completed the report in September. It declined to make its finding public, citing legal confidentiality, but in a news release City Council said the firm found “instances of isolated discriminatory conduct” and a deeply dysfunctional Human Resources Department, but no “systemic issue of racial or unlawful discrimination” in city government.
Before hiring Duane Morris, City Council in June 2024 hired Curtis, who as an FBI agent led a probe into former Mayor Ed Pawlowski’s pay-to-play schemes, to conduct the independent investigation. However, Mayor Matt Tuerk declared Curtis’ contract “void” because he said council did not follow proper legal procedures to hire him.
The hire of Duane Morris was an out-of-court compromise between City Council and the administration. Lawyers for Duane Morris said they would incorporate Curtis’ findings into their own report.
The investigation was launched after a July 2023 letter from the Allentown NAACP accused Tuerk and other city leaders of failing to address racism and discrimination among employees, claims that Tuerk has denied.
In a motion Nov. 14, lawyers for Allentown sought to quash Whitehead’s subpoena of the FLEO and Duane Morris investigations. Attorney Steven Hoffman wrote that Whitehead’s lawyers failed to prove the documents are relevant to Whitehead’s case. Hoffman also argued the documents are protected from public release by attorney-client and legislative privilege.
Whitehead’s lawyer, Marc Weinstein, in opposing the city’s motion, said the requested documents are relevant because they relate to alleged citywide discrimination, and the burden to prove that the requested documents are “privileged” and confidential lies with the city.
Whitehead is seeking unspecified damages for the “pain, suffering, and humiliation” she has endured, and is requesting a jury trial. No future court dates currently are scheduled.
The Morning Call, in a Right-to-Know request Sept. 5, requested any and all documents related to Duane Morris’ investigation. The city declined to release most files under a legal doctrine that exempts attorney-client communications and noncriminal investigative matters from public release.
Allentown did provide heavily redacted copies of invoices from Duane Morris totaling $351,253 for attorneys’ investigative work, which included holding telephone conferences, reviewing documents, and drafting emails and memorandums, according to the invoices. City Council approved up to $500,000 for Duane Morris’ work.
Scott Curtis billed Allentown approximately $68,000 for his investigative work before Duane Morris took over, according to City Council members.
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.