Charlotte Fire Chief Jon Hannan told the city manager last week that he was responsible for a personnel document being released to the media in apparent violation of state law, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation.
The March 4 document was written by Ron Carlee, the city manager, and was about Marty Puckett, the vice president of the Charlotte Firefighters Association Local 660. Carlee warned Puckett that he no longer could work as an unpaid intern for City Council member Claire Fallon and he risked being fired if he continued.
Puckett and Fallon have been harsh critics of the chief, and Fallon previously had called for him to be fired.
The letter is part of Puckett’s personnel file, and isn’t open for public review. Releasing such a document is a misdemeanor under N.C. law. The maximum fine is $500. Hannan was one of four people who received copies of the Carlee letter to Puckett.
State law said the person who releases the information must have acted “knowingly, willfully, and with malice.”
City Attorney Bob Hagemann said he isn’t aware of any Charlotte employee ever being charged for releasing information from a personnel file.
There hasn’t been any resolution to the short investigation about the leaked letter.