Bart Bevers, the first inspector general for the city of Dallas, is suing the city. He's alleging wrongful termination and seeks to possibly be reinstated.
Mark Downey, attorney for Bevers, said on Wednesday that they have made numerous attempts to resolve the case to avoid litigation.
"Our lawsuit seeks to enforce the city charter to bring to light the city's efforts to avoid independent oversight and to be held accountable for its wasteful actions," Downey said.
The petition was filed in Dallas County on Aug. 28. That was the day after the Dallas City Council voted to discharge Timothy J. Menke as inspector general less than three months after his hiring — because he was not a practicing attorney.
The office of the inspector general was first created in 2021. Bart Bevers was hired as the first to take on the role in 2022.
Dallas voters approved a proposition last year that established an independent inspector general. Previously, the IG's office was a division of the city.
Bevers was authorized to conduct “independent” investigations but they were overseen by the city attorney.
In January, Bevers filed an official report finding that city funds were spent on a City Council retreat, violating the City Code and administrative directives. According to the petition, Bevers alleges that he faced "retaliatory treatment" from city officials that resulted in the city hiring an outside firm to search for his replacement.
Despite being the only practicing attorney out of the finalists for the inspector general role, Bevers was terminated which was the retaliation cited in the petition, Downey said.
"The city turned around and orchestrated a retaliation against him to remove him from office and to have somebody appointed into that position that was not otherwise qualified for the position, because it didn't meet the city charter requirements," Downey said.
Nick Starling, a spokesman with the city of Dallas, said the city does not comment on litigation and gave no further comment.
Downey said Bevers was initially not paid his unemployment benefits and told that he was terminated for misconduct, but no policy violations were cited. Bevers was eventually able to receive his unemployment benefits after the city failed to provide policy violations to the Texas Workforce Commission.
In his investigations, Downey said Bevers had directed the city to retrain on its procurement process to clear up how the process works to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse.
Downey said that he is unaware of any steps taken to address issues found in the investigations Bevers conducted.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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