Jury awards North Carolina woman $1.5M in whistleblower suit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A federal jury has awarded $1.5 million to a former North Carolina fire investigator who said she was fired after complaining about the safety of construction work at an office building.

The Charlotte Observer reported (http://bit.ly/2ppxYn0) that a jury ruled Thursday in favor of Crystal Eschert, who said the Charlotte Fire Department fired her in 2014 because of her concerns over renovations at a new office building.

Officials in Charlotte said Eschert was fired because of a Facebook post in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The city said the firing was justified because the post could have led to community unrest.

Eschert's attorney, Meg Maloney, said the Facebook post was an excuse to fire Eschert.

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Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com