In an embarrassing verdict for the city of Charlotte, a jury Thursday found the Fire Department retaliated against former fire investigator Crystal Eschert for raising questions about the safety of construction work at a new office building, awarding her $1.5 million.
The jury rejected Charlotte’s claims that Eschert’s firing wasn’t retaliation. It also cast aside the city’s defense that the firing was necessary because Eschert had made what the city said was an offensive and inflammatory Facebook post.
On Aug. 20, 2014, about 10 days after the shooting of Michael Brown set off riots in Ferguson, Mo., Eschert wrote this post on her Facebook page, which was restricted to her Facebook friends: