NEW ORLEANS – Another former New Orleans city employee has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, also alleging she was fired in retaliation for whistleblowing activities.
Plaintiff Chanttell M. Patin filed her lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Sept. 12.
Patin’s filing comes just two days after a former co-worker, Sunae Villavaso, filed her own lawsuit in the same federal court.
Villavaso was employed by the city as its director of the Office of Workforce Development. She filed her complaint Sept. 10, alleging she was terminated after discovering instances of payroll fraud and the misuse and misallocation of ARPA funds by city employees.
The American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, is a federal fiscal recovery aid for state and local governments to mitigate the fiscal effects stemming from the COVID-19 public health emergency.
ARPA was signed into law on March 11, 2021, disbursing $1.9 trillion of relief and support directly to state and local governments. Some $386 million in federal ARPA funds were disbursed to the city of New Orleans. The city allocated $11 million in ARPA funds to its Office of Workforce Development.
Patin, who started working for the city as its JAG, or Jobs for America’s Graduates, director in September 2023, supported Villavaso’s claims. Patin, according to the complaint, reported to Villavaso; she also was the supervisor of one of the accused and reported employees.
In her complaint, Patin claims Villavaso also advised several city officials that changes in state and federal law would require the city to remove any Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, or DBE, requirements from any contracts and/or requests for proposals issued by the city and in connection with the Office of Workforce Development projects – including her pilot JAG program.
The city would lose state and federal funding if it did not comply, Patin alleges.
“It is Complaintant’s understanding and belief that the City of New Orleans did not intend to/and, in fact, has refused to comply with the state law directive in that regard, because of the personal and business impact that it would have upon certain friends or family members of certain officials and/or employees within the City of New Orleans, who would benefit from/or who have benefitted from the DBE advantages that would be disallowed under the new state law,” the complaint states.
A DBE is a for-profit small business that is at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, typically minorities and women.
Instead of complying and terminating those individuals committing payroll fraud and misusing funds, Patin claims the city terminated both her and Villavaso “in retaliatory and illegitimate fashion.”
Retaliation is the only explanation for her abrupt firing, Patin argues.
“Complainant had no verbal warnings, write-ups or concerns ever stated with regards to her performance prior to this time; and in April 2025, Complainant was commended by Defendant for performing her duties in a fashion which ‘exceeded the expectations’ of the City,” the complaint states, pointing to a recent performance review.
Patin alleges her termination was unjustified and without case, and violated her right to be employed as director of the JAG program until at least Dec. 31, 2026 – the sunset date for the ARPA funds and the program’s pilot status, as represented to her when she took the job in 2023.
She noted that upon her termination, she formally requested reinstatement. To date, the city has “expressly refused” to take any steps towards reinstating her.
“Complainant has suffered significant economic loss and emotional distress due to the wrongful termination, the concurrent violations of her employment agreement and deprivation of her statutory and Constitutional rights, among other actions on the part of Defendant,” the complaint states.
She seeks damages, reinstatement, lost wages and benefits, back pay, front pay, attorney’s fees and costs.
Darren A. Patin at Hailey McNamara in Metairie, La., is representing the plaintiff.
