Mooresville mayor responds to 'sensational' claims of being pantless in town hall
In an interview with The Charlotte Observer this week, Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney called claims in a lawsuit that he was pantless with a woman at town hall “sensational” and said he looks forward to the truth coming out.
Jeffrey Noble, a former IT employee, made the claims in a Jan. 12 lawsuit against the town, Carney and others for compensation after he alleged he was fired in retaliation for reporting misconduct by the mayor in October 2024.
Noble accused Carney, Town Manager Tracey Jerome and Chief Financial Officer Christopher Quinn of working together to suppress video of Carney’s misconduct, accusing Noble of leaking it and firing him without a proper investigation.
Noble’s complaint, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, focuses on footage of Carney entering town hall after hours on Oct. 10, 2024, with a woman hired by the town for communication consulting on a contract. In the lawsuit, Noble denied leaking the video to the public or media.
Noble, whose job included reviewing badge-access logs, watched the footage after seeing the mayor’s credentials were used “well outside normal business hours,” the lawsuit said.
Mooresville police showed up after motion sensors detected movement inside the building, the lawsuit said. Officers did not search the building or surrounding area. The lawsuit alleged the woman hid in Carney’s office when police arrived.
Noble informed his supervisors in the IT department of the footage, which was “consistent with Town whistleblower and ethics policies,” the lawsuit said.
But town leaders restricted who could access the video after Noble’s report, and limited who in the town and Mooresville Police Department could be told about its contents, the lawsuit said.
Carney took a leave of absence shortly after, between Oct. 17, 2024, and Nov. 12, 2024, the lawsuit said.
Mayor Carney’s comments
In his office at town hall Monday, Carney told the Observer neither he nor the town have been served with the lawsuit. “So I don’t really have something to respond to from that point,” he said.
“But at the same respect, from what I’ve understood, I’m looking forward to the town being able to respond when we file our legal counters, because our attorneys will obviously do that,” Carney said.
“And obviously, we’re excited for the public to get the rest of the story, which I think will make it very clear on the truth,” the mayor said, “and it’s much less sensational than these people have tried to portray.”
Carney, who is married, previously told media outlets that he had too much to drink that night at a gathering with other town officials at a bar a couple of blocks down Main Street from Town Hall. The alcohol mixed badly with medications he was on after his father died, so he went to Town Hall until the effects wore off, he said. That was safer than driving the several miles home, he said.
Monday, Carney told the Observer he’s been “very straightforward about just how incredibly ill I was that night. And I feel like they’re just trying to use that as a way to leverage the town, and I look forward to us being able to respond to that.”