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Northeast Ward Council Member Barbara Burke sued fellow Council Member Kevin Mundy for libel and slander on Wednesday, claiming Mundy intended to hold her up to "public scorn, contempt, ridicule and disgrace" when he made statements accusing her of trying to circumvent the law on housing decisions in her ward. Burke is asking the court to award her more than $25,000, and to issue restraining orders and injunctions that would prevent Mundy from repeating the statements. Burke tells the court Mundy should pay her more than $25,000 in damages, more than $25,000 in punitive damages and attorney fees.
The lawsuit stem from remarks Southwest Ward Council Member Mundy made in an email he sent to a member of the Minister's Conference of Winston-Salem & Vicinity on Oct. 21. In that email, Mundy called Burke a "bully" and said she had engaged in various actions to take sole control of decisions aff ecting the development of what is called aff ordable housing — housing for people who make less than the median income.
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Mundy said Burke was trying to force the construction of houses with amenities like garages that would make them too expensive. Burke filed notice with the courts on Nov. 7 that she intended to sue Mundy, and was given until Nov.
27 to file the complaint. The filing thus took place on the last day that it was possible for Burke to sue. Burke did not return a request for comment on Wednesday.
Mundy declined comment, saying he had not yet received his copy of the lawsuit. In her lawsuit, Burke labels as "demonstrably false" various accusations Mundy made in his email: That Burke promised to elevate former Assistant City Manager Patrice Toney to the job of city manager if she would give Burke free rein over housing policies in her ward; That Burke tried to turn the Ministers' Conference and other Black leaders against the council with false claims of racism when the council didn't pick Toney for the city manager job; That Burke was imitating her late mother-in-law, former Council Member Vivian Burke, by invoking false racism claims; That Burke is trying to have current City Manager Pat Pate fired; That Burke is pursuing gentrification with her housing plans; and that Burke is trying to use the Ministers' Conference as a pawn in her power play. Burke's lawsuit is partly a denunciation of Mundy and partly a defense of her actions in Northeast Ward.
The suit cites incidents that Burke says show the involvement of various city officials, including both administrators and elected officials, during the development of what the lawsuit variously calls the Northeast Winston or Northeast Ward Redevelopment Project. *The lawsuit says that Burke developed the plan with the input of City Attorney Angela Carmon, the county tax office and city planning and community development officials. *According to the lawsuit, Burke made sure both city elected officials and other council members were kept in the loop on her plan, by arranging tours to look at city lots and other properties to be developed under the plan.
Both former City Manager Lee Garrity and Pate took the tours, the lawsuit says. *Burke says that Carmon and Assistant City Manager Ben Rowe reviewed the content of a brochure the city approved for distribution in her ward, in which single-family houses with garages were billed as being available under the plan. *The Burke lawsuit also references a "Northeast Winston Redevelopment Groundbreaking Ceremony" video, shot on April 9, in which Pate, Carmon and Mundy were present, and in which Burke talked about how a group of new houses would have brick and stone facades along with garages, rather than the "bare minimum.
" Although the lawsuit mentions the actions of Pate and Carmon in connection with Burke's housing efforts, Pate told a Journal reporter he has no copy of a Burke plan, and Carmon said it is not possible for a council member to make solo decisions on the sale or development of city property. "At no time did Mundy express dissatisfaction or concern with Barbara's efforts on behalf of her constituents in the Northeast Ward prior to October of 2024 and even then not directly," the lawsuit states, going on to cite both Mundy's Ministers' Conference email and another one in which he wonders what would happen if a recipient shared the email with the media. According to the lawsuit, Mundy "doubled down" on his defamatory remarks when contacted by a Journal reporter, and that Mundy intended to deprive Burke "of the respect, confidence and esteem essential to Barbara's position and service on the Winston-Salem City Council," resulting in "extreme embarrassment, public humiliation, mental agony and damage to her name and professional reputation.
" According to the lawsuit, Burke, a former teacher, assistant principal and school board member, "has maintained the utmost ethics, personal and professional, treating all she meets with courtesy, respect and dignity." Randy James, the attorney representing Burke in the lawsuit, said that the case will go into mediation because that is required for all lawsuits filed in Forsyth County Superior Court. If that doesn't bring about a settlement, the case may come to a jury trial at some future date.
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