Bennettsville police chief sues city, claims administrator has ‘personal vendetta’ against him
MARLBORO COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — The chief of the Bennettsville Police Department has filed a lawsuit against the city and its administrator, claiming among several things, defamation, negligence and civil conspiracy.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Marlboro County Common Pleas Court by Police Chief Kevin Miller. It names the city of Bennettsville and City Administrator William Simon Jr.
Miller has been the city’s police chief since April 17, 2017, according to the suit. He claims he had never been reprimanded, written up or suspended until 2024.
Miller started having issues with city administration when a former mayor took office at the start of 2020, according to the suit, which claims they made “several negative public and private statements about plaintiff including publicly stating that plaintiff ‘was not her police chief.'”
Even though the former mayor’s dislike of Miller was well-documented, according to the lawsuit, he always received good evaluations. The lawsuit claims he has endured both private and public harassment from city council.
The lawsuit claims that during a workshop on April 11, 2023, officials went into an executive session to discuss a personnel matter, which Miller was the subject of.
The assistant to the city administrator at the time was in the chamber and never came out during the executive session, the lawsuit claims, calling it “highly unusual” for an employee to be allowed to take part in an executive session meeting.
Simon was appointed as city administrator by the former mayor in June, according to the lawsuit, which claims that since Simon has taken over that role, “he has made it clear that he has a personal vendetta against plaintiff and has done everything in his power to terminate plaintiff’s employment.”
A city employee in January filed a complaint against Miller, alleging that he was “disrespectful” to her, according to the suit. Simon “did not conduct an appropriate investigation into this claim, but rather reprimanded plaintiff for the unfounded complaint.” The reprimand was Miller’s first recorded disciplinary action in his career.
The complaint lodged against Miller has yet to be resolved, which the suit claims has created a “tense” workplace for Miller regarding how to engage with the employee because Miller fears further retaliation.
The city on April 3 released an assessment called “Bennettsville Carolina Police Department On-Site Assessment,” to the public, according to the suit. Much of the assessment dealt with internal human resource and personnel issues that Miller was actively trying to work on in his role as police chief.
The lawsuit claims the assessment “is filled with the opinions of several disgruntled former employees who had issues with plaintiff” and was “biased and released simply to paint plaintiff in a negative light to the public.”
Miller was suspended by Simon for five days without pay between March 5 and March 11, the lawsuit said.
Miller’s lawsuit alleges negligence, worker’s compensation retaliation and ratification. He named Simon in the suit, claiming civil conspiracy, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in damages and attorney’s fees.
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News13 reached out to Simon for comment on Thursday morning, who said they cannot comment on ongoing litigation.
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Caleb is a digital producer at News13. Caleb joined the team in January 2023 after graduating from Liberty University. He is from Northern Virginia. Follow Caleb on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.
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