After a month-long internal investigation, Chapel Hill solid waste workers Kerry Bigelow and Clyde Clark were terminated this afternoon, according to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP.
The two workers have been under paid-suspension since last month after the town said it received "several complaints about the employees' behavior during work hours that rise to the level of serious incident," according to a letter from Lance Norris, public works director in September.
The town council met Wednesday night, and went into closed session, but Councilmember Penny Rich said they were not given any information about the investigation.
"We went into closed session and there was no information for us," she said. "The council has nothing to do with personnel."
The termination comes right before the investigation's six-week anniversary on Monday. If the suspension had lasted longer than a month, Town Manager Roger Stancil would have been required to give the council details on the workers' paid leave, according to the town's General Ordinance, Sec. 14-108:
"The manager will inform the council of circumstance of paid administrative leave of a month or longer, and keep the council advised during the duration of such paid suspension."
The UE 150 workers union, Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP and UNC Student Action with Workers group have been protesting the suspensions outside town hall for the last several weeks, and formally petitioned the council Wednesday to let the men return to work.
Bigelow and Clark will have 14 days to submit an appeal against the decision, according to the town rules.
Katelyn Ferral covers Orange County for The News & Observer and The Chapel Hill News.
