DETROIT – Detroit Mayor Dave Bing fired the city's Department of Human Services Director in May. Now she is suing the administration, saying Bing is the one doing wrong.
After an internal investigation, Bing said he fired Shenetta Coleman for using $200,000 to buy office furniture. Bing's office said "the purchase of furniture in question" reflected "a lack of oversight and poor inventory management within the department." Coleman and two other employees within the department were let go.
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Now, Coleman is claiming that Bing has been misspending hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funds. She outlines a list of allegations in her lawsuit.
She says Bing used grant money for the poor to pay off $600,000 in city pension debt obligations.
Bing already is being sued by Rochelle Collins, a former appointee in his office, for $400,000 for her "physical injuries, pain and suffering."
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Coleman's lawsuit accuses Bing and the rest of his administration of playing games with the federal grant money.
In her filing, Coleman says she was let go by Bing only after she let his administration know she considered some of their maneuvers illegal and unwise.
In addition to using $600,000 in federal grant money to pay down the pension debt, Coleman says Bing's administration padded her department books by $500,000 so Detroit would be eligible for more federal grant money. Moreover, Coleman says Bing planned to divert $600,000 to renovate the Herman Kiefer Health Complex.
She says she was treated with hostility by Bing appointees when she gave her opinion.
A spokesman for Bing told Local 4 that the office will not comment on pending litigation.
Coleman is seeking more than $25,000 in damages.
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