Former Summerfield Town Manager Scott Whitaker and former Finance Director Dee Hall have lawyered up and appear ready to take legal action in response to what they claim are false allegations made against them by former North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood and some members of the Summerfield Town Council.

The two, who were the subject of an inquiry into alleged financial discrepancies within the town government, have now issued legal warnings to several officials ­– signaling potential defamation lawsuits.

This week, Hall and Whitaker escalated their defense by sending letters through their attorney, Heydt Philbeck, to multiple current and former town officials. The letters, which serve as formal notice of possible civil claims, were addressed to Summerfield Town Councilmembers Lynne DeVaney, Janelle Robinson, Jonathan Hamilton and Heath Clay, as well as Town Manager Twig Rollins, former Interim Town Manager Dana Luther, and former State Auditor Beth Wood.

The letters order those recipients to preserve all relevant documents in the case, as Hall and Whitaker consider suing for defamation and damages related to the allegations made in Wood’s report, ones that are still being pushed by some of Hall and Whitaker’s political enemies.

The matter was a major topic at a Summerfield Town Council meeting on Tuesday, March 11. Neither Mayor Tim Sessoms nor Councilmember John Doggett were named in the potential lawsuit. In fact, Hall and Whitaker expressed gratitude for their support amid the controversy.

The big political storm in the small town of about 11,000 people erupted in January when auditor Beth Wood presented a report at a Summerfield Town Council meeting outlining allegations of supposed financial misconduct by former town staff, including Whitaker and Hall. Some of the accusations regarded unauthorized pay increases, destruction of town records, and the improper use of town resources for personal business.

Following Wood’s report that night in January, the council voted to pursue a full investigation.

However, Hall and Whitaker have strongly refuted the claims, asserting that Wood’s report was based on one-sided information from Interim Town Manager Dana Luther and Town Manager Twig Rollins, rather than a thorough investigation. Hall stated that Wood spent less than a day in the office and never interviewed those accused before making her allegations public.

Since Wood never contacted the accused, and the accused didn’t even know the report was going to be presented at the meeting – and because some members of the media were alerted beforehand that the report would be presented at the meeting – many considered it more of an attempted hit job than the initiation of a fair, above board and careful audit.

After the meeting, Sessoms told the Rhino Times that the town had already wasted a lot of money trying to find something that’s not there.

“I respectfully asked them to end it,” he said, adding that former staff had done nothing wrong.

However, the four council members are committed to using more town money to continue the investigation.

Sessoms said the former town staff were honest and did good work for years and he added that the only reason the four councilmembers are continuing the charade is because they want desperately to find some way to justify the disrespectful and baseless way they terminated the town manager, Whitaker, in 2024.

Since the out-of-the-blue allegations became public in mid-January, many people have come to the defense of Hall and Whitaker and vouched for their character and their dedication to public service.

One of those has been former Guilford County Sheriff and former Summerfield Mayor BJ Barnes, who worked closely with Hall when he was mayor. He told the Rhino Times there’s no question about her professionalism, integrity and her performance as the town’s finance director for nearly a decade.

“Dee is the most honest person I’ve ever met,” Barnes said in late January after the slew of claims from Wood.

He also said Hall was an exceptional finance director, and, when it came to the town’s books, “The audits came in perfect every time.”

In February, an extensive and detailed response from the town’s former IT manager emphatically refuted many allegations related to the elimination of information on the town’s server, supposedly to “cover up” wrongdoing, as well as other allegations he said had a simple explanation if anyone had bothered to ask.

The new legal notification action by Whitaker and Hall for record retention comes amid growing community outrage over the way the investigation has been handled.

At the March 11 Summerfield Town Council meeting, several citizens voiced their frustration with the way Whitaker, Hall and other former staff were being treated.

One Summerfield resident, Church Brown, called the town leaders who were pursuing an investigation an “embarrassment.”

Brown accused council leaders of prioritizing “personal vendettas” over responsible governance, and he pointed to their decision in early 2024 to not renew Whitaker’s contract after 12 years of service. Brown noted that Whitaker had to take legal action to secure his severance package – a process that cost the town’s taxpayers thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Furthermore, Brown criticized Councilmember Jonathan Hamilton’s “dismissive attitude” toward the town’s staffing crisis following the mass resignation of all town employees in response to Whitaker’s departure. Hamilton had assured residents that Summerfield “won’t skip a beat,” a statement many now view as out of touch given the turmoil that has followed.

Hall and Whitaker maintain that the accusations against them are either misconstrued or entirely false. Hall has stated that she never deleted town records, improperly withheld passwords, or engaged in any unethical financial practices.

A key piece of evidence supporting their case, Brown said, comes from the town’s own IT company, which confirmed that Hall and Whitaker properly turned over all passwords and Apple IDs. Despite this, council members Janelle Robinson and Dana Luther have continued to claim otherwise, Brown said.

Another contentious issue involves claims that Hall failed to pre-audit contracts. Town Manager Twig Rollins has publicly accused her of this, yet, Brown noted, Hall’s requests for documentation proving these claims have gone unanswered.

As a defamation lawsuit now seems all but certain, it remains to be seen how Summerfield’s leadership will respond to the growing public discontent and the threat of legal action.

For now, Whitaker and Hall are determined to clear their names and hold accountable those who they believe defamed them.

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