Allentown Council ends City Hall discrimination investigation, hires law firm to lead policy probe

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A former FBI agent conducted more than 100 interviews with Allentown employees as part of council’s long-running investigation into numerous claims of racism and discrimination within city government, according to one council member.

But Scott Curtis must stop work after the body launched a new probe Wednesday night.

Council voted 4-3 to approve Bill 10 — a measure that hires Philadelphia-based Duane Morris LLC and repeals the June 2024 legislation that hired Curtis.

Daryl Hendricks, Cynthia Mota, Santo Napoli and Candida Affa approved the measure over dissenting votes from Ce-Ce Gerlach, Ed Zucal and Natalie Santos.

Duane Morris attorneys are set to analyze Allentown's personnel and nondiscrimination policies — and whether they’ve been followed since Matt Tuerk became mayor three years ago.

The company also would be tasked with recommending policy and procedural changes on how to spur a “culture change” within city government, council solicitor Maria Montero said Wednesday.

$450K ‘ceiling’?

Duane Morris attorneys do not plan to interview city employees about specific allegations, as Curtis did. Curtis is owed about $68,000 for work he completed last year, Zucal said.

But the new policy probe is likely to cost many times more than that.

Duane Morris leaders said they could complete the probe at a cost of $450,000 to $1 million, Montero told members, prompting gasps from some in the room.

The company agreed to try to limit costs to $450,000, which Montero called council’s “ceiling” for the price of the investigation.

And Duane Morris will submit monthly bills for council to review costs of the investigation at regular intervals, the solicitor said.

But no specific figures were available Wednesday, with exact costs to be determined in the coming weeks.

A 4-3 vote ended Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach’s move to delay a vote one week so the body could get more information about costs.

Duane Morris attorneys Mary Hansen and Mike Rinaldi, who are set to lead their company’s work in Allentown, are paid hourly rates of $1,285 and $1,150, respectively.

Rinaldi offered a “guarantee” that Allentown would not be charged those full hourly rates and said the city likely would get a “very substantial discount” on Duane Morris’ investigative work.

Climbing costs

Council in October 2023 passed legislation authorizing an independent investigation, months after residents and former employees at public meetings aired concerns about racism and discrimination.

Council approved a no-confidence measure against Mayor Matt Tuerk in December 2023 as a symbolic sanction for his firing of former human resources employee Karen Ocasio, who had filed multiple discrimination complaints against the city.

Members hired Curtis last June to lead the probe. His contract with council was temporarily suspended in December and terminated Wednesday.

Curtis’ investigation “was about having the truth come out, and that’s not going to happen now,” Zucal told LehighValleyNews.com on Wednesday.

It’s unclear whether Curtis will publish a report on findings from his truncated investigation or if Tuerk will pay him for his work, according to Zucal.

Council initially set aside $300,000 for Curtis’ investigation and $20,000 to pursue litigation against Tuerk for not paying Curtis.

While council is set to spend less than a quarter of its allotment for the investigation, it blew past its initial fund for legal fees.

Council will pay its attorney, Mary Kay Brown, about $68,000, while the mayor’s administration spent about $45,000 on attorneys to defend city officials from council’s lawsuit, Napoli said Wednesday.

That means Allentown taxpayers are on the hook to the tune of about $113,000 in legal fees for litigation that was settled before ever reaching court.

They could end up paying more than $600,000 before any investigative findings are made public.

And Zucal warned that Curtis could end up suing Tuerk’s administration if he is not paid, costing the city even more.

“We made a mistake” by hiring Curtis, Napoli told LehighValleyNews.com.

But by ending that investigation, council can use taxpayers’ money to fund a new probe instead of prolonged litigation against the mayor, he said.

Napoli said a legal fight could have lasted most or all of 2025 and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

‘Stuck cleaning up the mess’

Napoli criticized his colleagues for setting council and the administration on a path toward litigation by breaking with the city’s typical procurement process last year.

A committee of three council members — Zucal, Hendricks and Gerlach — selected Curtis in June after council blocked administrative officials from participating in the hiring process.

Tuerk soon after told members he would not pay for Curtis’ “defective” and “void” contract.

Council’s current situation shows “why municipalities have a procurement process. This process was circumvented by my colleagues, and now it’s why we are stuck cleaning up the mess,” Napoli said.

“It’s unfortunate to Allentown taxpayers, and I made it clear I was against it.”

Napoli was the only member to vote against hiring Curtis to lead the investigation, citing concerns with the hiring process.

He also on Wednesday hit out at members who tried to terminate Curtis’ investigation without launching a new probe.

Zucal, who is running for mayor, told LehighValleyNews.com he doesn’t think Duane Morris’ price is worth “a couple policy changes and things like that.”

“We’re just going to waste money, and we’re not going to go anywhere,” Zucal said after pushing for an end to investigations into discrimination in city government.

“We can’t spend this kind of money," he said. "You heard what they make an hour — that’s insane."

Zucal’s motion to terminate Curtis’ investigation and table Duane Morris’ hiring failed after only finding support from two other members, Ce-Ce Gerlach and Natalie Santos.

Napoli said he was “really disappointed” they voted to end the probe because they “don’t agree with the law firm” selected to continue it.

“That’s disrespectful to all the folks that came to the podium asking for our help” in 2023, he said.