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Following her official termination from the city through the elimination of her role as Director of Human Resources, former HR director Casta Brice is suing the city for racial discrimination, “extreme retaliation” and economic and non-economic damages.

In the detailed 26-page lawsuit with a timeline starting in 2020, Brice’s lawyer, Justin Gilbert, claims Brice was subject to retaliation from Alderman Kurt Glick during his time as Director of the Tullahoma Parks and Recreation department, and following an investigation into his practices as director by law firm Wimberly, Lawson, Wright, Daves and Jones, PLLC. The timeline ended with her being placed on administrative leave in February 2023 after being human resources director for 26 years.

In her suit, Brice maintains the issues with she and Glick began in 2020 when she restricted him from including a “drinking buddy” from being considered for a full-time position while Glick was still Parks and Rec director for the city of Tullahoma.

“Glick became angry, arguing that his drinking buddy was excluded because he was an older white male,” the suit maintains. “In truth, the drinking buddy was excluded because he was obviously underqualified.”

The suit maintains that Glick was retaliatory and that his alleged cronyism put the city of Tullahoma at financial risk. It also maintains he employed no persons of color which caused a concern within city administration. Brice points out she is multi-racial as her mother is from the Dominican Republic and father from the Isle of St. Maaren.

The suit says an investigation was conducted by an outside law firm into the allegations of cronyism and retaliation at parks and rec. “He was enraged as result,” the suit says of Glick.

Brice’s suit goes on to point out that after leaving his position, Glick filed a lawsuit against the City for age discrimination – a suit that is still waiting to be heard in federal court.

Brice maintains that when Glick was elected to the aldermanic board that he “made it his mission to get even with Ms. Brice”.

“Added by a hopelessly dysfunctional majority, the Board has delivered unconscionable hard to Ms. Brice suspending her without investigation and then terminating her employment,” the suit maintains.

Following her administrative leave, the suit details how Brice stayed on leave until City Administrator Jason Quick issued a letter to her on Sept. 29 of 2023, stating that the position of Human Resources Director would be eliminated, effectively ending her employment with the city.

“After seven and a half months of suspension with no Board investigation and no finding of any criminal wrongdoing by the District Attorney, the City had retaliated by creating a pretextual “job elimination that cost Ms. Brice her livelihood,” the suit claims.

According to the lawsuit, the request for relief from the city includes “that proper process issue along with a copy of this complaint requiring Defendant to appear and answer; a declaration that Defendant has violated federal or state laws, for the reasons outlined [in the lawsuit]’ injunctive or equitable relief to preclude post-termination retaliation; monetary damages up to $5 million [for] lost income including lost wages, loss of health insurance, loss of pension or retirement benefits and any other emoluments of employment and extreme damage to her reputation.”

Brice issued the following statement regarding her lawsuit:

“Over the past 26 years, it was my greatest honor to serve the City of Tullahoma and its employees and treat them with dignity and respect in my position as Director of Human Resources. Unfortunately, in return, I was falsely accused of shredding documents by the City Board, put on leave with no investigation, and then terminated for an entirely different and baseless reason of “job elimination.” With the support of friends and employees, I can now tell the detailed story of the Board’s retaliation, with dates, statements, quotes, and evidence that will hold true in court. A career in human resources underscores that people’s lives matter, and I know that mine matters too.”

The entire lawsuit is available to read here: