by Katelynn Richardson
The Fulton County commissioner who wants to increase District Attorney Fani Willis’ budget by over $9 million recently cost taxpayers thousands by losing a sexual discrimination lawsuit brought by her former chief of staff.
A judge ruled earlier this month that Commissioner Natalie Hall sexually discriminated against her former chief of staff Calvin Brock, ordering the county to provide Brock backpay from September 2020 with interest, along with attorneys fees and $65,00 in damages, Fox 5 Atlanta reported on Jan. 12. Hall is proposing adding $9.7 million to the District Attorney’s budget, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported Monday.
Brock filed his complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging Hall wrongfully fired him from the $125,000 a year position because he ended their relationship, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. The commissioners voted to censure Hall (pictured above) over the situation in September, per the outlet.
“To have a sexual relationship with a subordinate is a lapse in judgment because now you have put the body and the taxpayers at risk,” Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman said at the time, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Hall’s proposal for the District Attorney’s office budget includes adding $2.2 million in funding for employees working on a project to clear the COVID-19 case backlog, $1.84 million for “10 attorneys,” $732,792 for “7 investigators,” $542,868 for a paid internship program and $4.4 million for “operational funds.”
Fani Willis’ office agreed to pay $10,000 on a service to monitor her media coverage just days before announcing the probe into former President Donald Trump, according to invoices and emails obtained by the @DailyCaller News Foundation.🧵https://t.co/U7an4Mx7l7
— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) January 23, 2024
Commissioner Marvin Arrington also wants to add the $9.7 to Willis’ budget, while Commissioner Dana Barrett is proposing adding over $4 million, Commissioner Bridget Thorne told the DCNF on Monday. The commissioners are meeting Wednesday to review the county’s 2024 budget.
The proposed fiscal year 2024 budget includes $36.6 million for the District Attorney’s office as of Jan. 10.
Willis was accused in a motion filed by Michael Roman, a co-defendant in the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump, of awarding a “lucrative” contract to her alleged romantic partner, Nathan Wade, and benefiting from it when he took her on vacations using the money he earned from his position.
Wade’s bank statements show he purchased airline tickets to Miami and San Francisco in Willis’ name, according to a Friday court filing by Wade’s wife in their divorce case.
Hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Katelynn Richardson is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
