In a letter addressed to members of the Little Rock Board of Directors on Friday, a Little Rock employee accused City Attorney Tom Carpenter of using a racial slur during a recent conversation.
The employee, Samantha Wilson, identified herself as a Freedom of Information Act coordinator for the city. During a conversation with Carpenter on Monday, he used the word "n*****," Wilson wrote.
"Prior to this event, I have never had an issue with Mr. Carpenter," Wilson wrote. "Our limited interactions have always been cordial."
It made his use of the word "even more shocking," Wilson added. "I never expected it. I never saw it coming."
Wilson, who is Black, said she "memorialized the event, notified HR, and was prepared to allow the process to run its course. Instead, I have been punished for my professionalism. I've been punished for having the audacity to speak out against someone who has blatantly created a toxic, hostile work environment."
After she filed her complaint, Wilson said Carpenter retaliated against her by claiming that she deleted records related to an upcoming city festival called LITFest.
"I have been at City Hall since February 2021. I have not had a complaint or any form of disciplinary action taken against me," Wilson wrote. "Mr. Carpenter's claim against me would be the first and only comes after I reported him to HR. This is retaliation pure and simple."
Wilson wrote that Carpenter did not direct the racial slur at her during the conversation. A white female co-worker was also in the room and heard Carpenter's remark, Wilson wrote.
"Mr. Carpenter was presented with this information and categorically denied it," Wilson wrote. "He, then, proceeded to retaliate against me by secretly doing an IT pull on my computer and accusing me of deleting documents. I will not be harassed by Mr. Carpenter, his friends, the press or anyone else for that matter."
The letter was provided to city officials Friday by attorney Marion Humphrey Jr. In an email, Humphrey told them he and his father, Marion Humphrey Sr., were representing Wilson.
"Attached please find her personal statement regarding her difficult past week working for the City of Little Rock under City Attorney Carpenter's leadership," Humphrey wrote. "We expect your swift and earnest attention to this matter."
When reached via email, Humphrey said Wilson was unavailable for an interview.
"She has never wanted to bring public attention to this as she went through solely HR channels to discuss her experience with Carpenter," Humphrey wrote. "He made this public."
Humphrey added that "because of Carpenter's retaliatory efforts, she has learned that she has been moved to another department. She does not currently know what her job title is."
Humphrey said he was not at liberty to disclose the name of the other person who was reportedly in the room at the time.
Carpenter could not be reached for comment regarding Wilson's letter by phone or email Friday.
Wilson's letter was sent to the mayor and city board members in the wake of a two-hour executive session on an undisclosed personnel matter that took place Tuesday.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. called the meeting to discuss what he described as "a personnel issue that requires immediate attention."
Once members returned to open session, Scott reported they took no action.
Television station KATV-Channel 7 also reported that a memo written by Stacey Witherell, Little Rock's top human-resources official, said she had been made aware of allegations that Carpenter used a racial slur during a meeting Monday, which Carpenter reportedly denied.
Additionally, KATV reported that Witherell mentioned another incident in which Carpenter gave police recruits an example of something offensive they could not say.
"The example was offensive and inappropriate and derogatory toward African Americans," Witherell wrote, according to KATV.
Little Rock officials have not provided a copy of the memo in response to a request from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
On the same day city board members received Wilson's letter, Carpenter told them of potential city liability tied to the work of the Freedom of Information Act division, though he did not specifically mention Wilson.
On Friday, Carpenter provided the mayor and city board members with a letter in which he indicated "serious legal concerns" about a LITFest contract based on a video of a procurement-negotiation meeting between city officials and officials from Think Rubix, the outside firm selected to produce the festival.
"This is one of the items my office discovered, without assistance from the AFOIA division workers, that was not provided to those who requested all RFQ [request for qualifications] process information on LITFest," Carpenter wrote in the letter, which he also provided to the Democrat-Gazette.
In the video, which was obtained and published earlier this week by "Blue Hog Report" blogger Matthew Campbell, Scott's chief of staff Kendra Pruitt acknowledged that officials did not want the proposed $45,000 contract with Think Rubix to exceed $50,000 in order to avoid having to secure city board approval.
The Little Rock city manager can authorize purchases of less than $50,000, provided they undergo a competitive bid, which is ultimately what took place with the Think Rubix contract.
City Manager Bruce Moore signed the agreement June 9, long after the discussions captured on video took place.
"I think it's possible to leverage some sponsorship dollars for additional work as necessary, because that wouldn't be city money and therefore wouldn't require that political step, if you will," Pruitt says in the video. "... and I don't know that we want to go before the board on what they would maybe deem, us throwing a party."
In his letter, Carpenter wrote, "The RFQ did not make clear that Think Rubix would be responsible for raising the sponsorship funds."
A provision of the contract that said sponsorship funds must be promptly deposited with the city has not been followed, Carpenter wrote. He suggested that the contract's value to Think Rubix has likely exceeded the "trigger" requiring board approval.
Carpenter sidestepped discussion of "reports of other deficiencies" with the contract.
"Instead, the major thing that this video reveals is the conscious effort to do anything to avoid Board of Directors consideration of this contract," he wrote.
In an effort to "try and limit any further municipal liability" on the open-records front, Carpenter wrote that the video was being provided to Campbell as well as two local journalists.
"It has also been provided to the prosecuting attorney's office as part of its continuing investigation of how the City handles AFOIA issues," Carpenter wrote.
When asked for comment on Carpenter's letter, Scott's spokesman Aaron Sadler wrote in an email, "I'm certain the Mayor and Board will give due consideration to the City Attorney's legal concerns, since, after all, it's his responsibility to bring legal issues to their attention. That said, Mr. Carpenter approved the LITFest contract, and his office has sole responsibility for handling FOIA requests. The Mayor transferred the FOIA Division to the City Attorney's office on Aug. 9, so if Mr. Carpenter located documents responsive to a FOIA request, it's because it's his job to do so."