THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609140219
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: METRO BRIEFS
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: 31 lines
Three defendants have been dismissed from a lawsuit filed by former Acting City Manager Dale R. Cooke, alleging that discrimination was behind her firing last October.
Mayor James P. Councill III, Carlton L. Cutchin III and Dr. Robert T. Edwards were dropped from the suit, leaving four defendants who were on the City Council when Cooke was terminated.
Councill, an insurance company owner who was elected mayor after the suit was filed, and Edwards, a retired dentist, were dismissed from the suit this week. Cutchin, manager of his family's hardware company, was dismissed earlier.
All three are members of a citizens' group, Citizens for Constructive Government. They were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they may not be sued again on the same charge, said John O'Keefe, a Chesapeake lawyer who represents Edwards.
Cooke, the first black to hold the top management position in Franklin, is seeking $5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. All the defendants are white.
Cooke also wants her job back.
The trial is set for Oct. 21 in U.S. District Court in Norfolk against the remaining defendants: City Councilman Oscar W. Babb, former council members W. Norwood Boyd and Lynn E. Powell, and former Mayor C. Franklin Jester.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT by CNB