Former City Communications Director hopes $700K verdict brings increased transparency to City Hall
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - On Wednesday, a Kansas City jury sided with the city’s former communications director in a lawsuit. Now, he’s hoping the verdict means more truth and transparency for City Hall.
At the end of a days-long trial on Wednesday, March 5, a jury of two men and 10 women unanimously sided with former Kansas City, Missouri, City Communications Director Chris Hernandez and awarded him $700,000.
KCTV5 spoke with Hernandez on Thursday, just a day after the verdict.
“Incredibly grateful for this verdict because it means the jury was able to very clearly see the truth in this situation and I think they delivered a very clear message about the need for more truth and transparency at the City Hall in Kansas City,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez said he is taking a deep breath now that this trial is over. He said the last three and a half years have been difficult to go through.
“It is difficult to stand up to your boss and push back when you think there is something wrong going on, to simply ask for the truth there is no reason to lie to taxpayers about how we are spending their money and we just thought that was a baseline to operate from and apparently not everyone thinks like that,” said Hernandez.
READ MORE: Whistleblower awarded $700K after forced out by City Manager
He feels things still need to change over in City Hall, believing there’s a need for more ethics training, a culture shift, and that top officials need to be held able.
“I really want the residents and taxpayers to know that there are still a lot of people at City Hall who do operate with ethics and integrity unfortunately that doesn’t seem to extend all the way to the top floor of City Hall and any residents and taxpayers who are upset about this should express their opinion. I don’t think that most people realize that the boss of the city manager is actually the entire city council not just the mayor,” said Hernandez.
He added: “You should be held to a higher standard when you are talking about taxpayer money and how you are spending our tax money on city programs, this is not the same as marketing cookies, or something like that this is a higher level of trust that is needed.”
There were two verdicts, one for the whistleblower claim that Hernandez was removed as director of communications and the other for damages for removal.
The whistleblower claim is for $228,828.99 and in the determination of damages, the jury awarded him $700,000.
He will only receive the higher amount due to the duplicate finding.
KCTV5 reached out to the City Manager and Mayor’s offices for comment but did not receive a response.
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