RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond's former Department of Public Utilities (DPU) director, who was terminated last year in the wake of the city's water crisis, is suing Mayor Danny Avula and two other city officials, online court records show.
April Bingham was terminated after a winter storm knocked the power out at the water treatment plant on January 6, 2025, triggering a series of failures in backup power systems and leaving the city and surrounding counties without drinkable water for nearly a week.
The lawsuit alleges that she was wrongfully terminated. She seeks $1 million in damages.
As CBS 6 previously reported, Bingham initially resigned from the role on January 15 under what she described as coercion by then Interim Chief Administrative Officer Sabrina Joy-Hogg. Bingham said she was given a 21-day window to think over her decision to resign. She rescinded her resignation on January 22, and the following day on January 23, Bingham was fired.
Bingham previously served as DPU's deputy director of customer service beginning in February 2020 and was appointed DPU director by former Mayor Levar Stoney in December 2021.
The lawsuit claims the mayor misrepresented that she was incompetent and blamed her for the crisis despite her "excellent performance reviews."
Bingham alleges Avula falsely claimed her separation was "amicable." The quotes she cites in her lawsuit include positive statements Avula made about her, including that she was "amazing in being present" and "responsive."
Further, Bingham claims she was fired in retaliation for raising concerns about the mayor allegedly bypassing water testing protocols in order to get the boil advisory lifted sooner.
Bingham sat down for an interview with CBS 6 reporter Tyler Layne in March of last year, two months after her termination, to discuss the water crisis.
"Is there anything you can look at within these reports and say, as the director, 'I'm going to take accountability for that?'" Layne asked Bingham.
"I'm not going to hang my head low on anything that I've not done, because what I did do, it needed to be done at that time," Bingham responded "One could say that I ran out of time because there was so much that needed to be done."
"So going back to the question, your answer would be no?" Layne asked.
"No. I think I have served the City of Richmond, especially the Department of Public Utilities, wholeheartedly," she said.
CBS 6 reached out to Mayor Danny Avula for comment and received the following response from his spokesperson Mira Signer:
"In light of pending litigation, we respectfully decline to comment at this time."
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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