Racism and embezzlement got woman fired during Dothan diet scandal

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DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) – A woman fired from her job in the town of Dothan paints a disturbing picture of racist bosses who unfairly hit back at her as she questioned their handling of public funds and confronted them with other issues.

Stephanie Wingfield makes the allegations in court documents filed last week as part of her wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the City of Dothan.

She asks a judge to order the city to rehire her.

Employed for 23 years, Wingfield coordinated a Department of Recreation Services program that provided meals to mostly low-income children.

City officials say it mishandled the federally funded initiative and committed numerous violations, including falsifying documents required for reimbursement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Related: Woman to Blame for Fostering the Mess, City Manager Says

They claim the documents often depicted several hundred meals had been delivered in a single day when only a small portion of those had passed out.

The city paid a restaurant several million dollars to provide those meals, though some were thrown into dumpsters, according to the city.

Wingfields’ poor professional performance has embarrassed the city to say the least, Dothan City Manager Kevin Cowper said in a previous interview with WTVY.

After learning of these irregularities, Wingfield was fired and a criminal investigation was opened, Cowper said.

Through his attorney, Wingfield denies the allegations of wrongdoing and, in his lawsuit, claims his unfair treatment began long before the eating issues surfaced.

She alleges that in 2021, supervisors put her down in front of others in a meeting and, after she defended herself, she was suspended.

She says her bosses also retaliated because she discovered their misuse of federal funds that had been given to the city during the pandemic.

And she insinuates that senior recreation managers are racists who have treated black people with less respect than other employees.

She also believes she may have been unfairly targeted because of a worthless $3,100 check she sent to an Enterprise car dealership.

Although she wrote that check in 2017, Wingfield wasn’t caught until May 2022 during a traffic stop and as her professional career unfolded.

Blaming the case on a clerical issue, she returned the money, and prosecutors dropped the charges soon after.

However, when she informed her bosses of the incident, they almost simultaneously confronted her with allegations that she had rigged the food program’s bidding process, Wingfield claims.

The alleged falsified documents and questions about the fairness of the bidding process led to Wingfields being terminated, although she claims around the same time she was praised for the way she coordinated the food initiative.

After Dothan’s staff council upheld his dismissal, Wingfield filed a lawsuit in Houston County Circuit Court, with a trial date pending.

One of Wingfields bosses has retired and several of his colleagues have been disciplined for their role in the embarrassing incident.

Larry Patrick, a former high-ranking recreation services supervisor, filed a $150,000 claim against the city after learning his name had been electronically forged on supply documents for years after his retirement.

The status of this claim is unknown.

Cowper has not commented on this article due to ongoing litigation. His comments reflected in this article were made before Wingfield filed his lawsuit.

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