City reaches federal discrimination settlement with former female firefighter

By WLOS Staff

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — The city of Asheville has reached a settlement in a federal discrimination complaint filed by a former high ranking female firefighter.

While the city denies any wrongdoing, it has agreed to pay former Division Chief Joy Ponder $155,000. Attorneys for Ponder asked the federal court to dismiss the claim against the city, which was filed April 8. The claim against the city was the only remaining claim, which would have proceeded to trial if it had not been settled.

Claims filed against Fire Chief Scott Burnette were deemed legally insufficient and dismissed by the court.

News 13 reached out to attorneys for the city of Asheville and Ponder.

City Attorney Brad Branham said, “The city is pleased that this dispute has now been finally resolved. This allows both the Asheville Fire Department and the city government as a whole to once again focus fully on providing services to our community.”

At the time of the posting of this story, News 13 had not heard back from Ponder’s attorney.

Branham said, “While the city vehemently denies any wrongdoing or liability, the City Council determined it was in the best interest of the city to avoid unnecessary litigation costs by resolving the remaining claim, thereby minimizing the expenditure of public funds.”

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