The racial discrimination lawsuit filed by an employee of the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau has been settled.
Ashley Farmer, now the CVB’s executive director, said Thursday the settlement terms were confidential.
The lawsuit, filed last January, had its roots in the summer of 2021, after then-CVB director Danielle Morgan left that position to run the Mississippi Tourism Association. Farmer, who had worked at the CVB for four years, took over Morgan’s responsibilities during the search for a new executive director.
In October 2021, the commission voted to hire Patrick Ervin, who is Black and is from Greenville, to the position over Farmer. The vote was made along racial lines, with seven Black board members voting for Ervin and four white members voting for Farmer.
Excerpts of depositions with several board members show that the hiring process was contentious, though Ervin and Farmer both said they had a good working relationship, according to court filings.
Farmer filed her lawsuit in January 2022, alleging in filings that she was the more qualified candidate and that Ervin was hired primarily because of his race.
Ervin resigned from the CVB last April. He took a job with The Enterprise-Tocsin in Indianola and is now with the Delta Democrat-Times in Greenville. Both papers are owned by Emmerich Newspapers, which owns the Commonwealth.
Farmer was promoted to interim director while the board hired an outside firm to conduct the search for a new executive director. Farmer was selected out of the finalists and accepted the position last month.
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
