3 days ago
She got death threats after Harrison Butker post she didn't write. She's suing KC
A Kansas City communications staffer says her superiors ignored her requests when she asked that they clear her name after she was falsely accused of sending out a social media post last year that allegedly doxxed Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and then faced online harassment, vitriol and racist death threats.
After she complained about their inaction, Andrea Watts said she was subjected to increasingly critical treatment at work in City Hall. She recently sued the city seeking monetary damages on the basis of those allegations.
The city declined comment on the lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court, as officials do not discuss pending litigation.
Watts said she felt threatened by the racist, sexist and violent posts directed toward her after she was falsely identified online as the person who posted a message on the city's X account in response to Butker's controversial speech at a college graduation ceremony last spring.
'Just a reminder that Harrison Butker lives in the City of Lee's Summit,' the May 15, 2024 posting on X said.
While it was no secret that Butker lived in that Kansas City suburb and that the tweet did not give out his address, online commenters accused Kansas City of exposing Butker to personal risk and harassment by posting the name of the city where he lived.
Many of the commenters accused the city of doxxing Butker after he gave a speech in which he expressed his conservative views on political and social issues, such as abortion and how be believes his wife is happier having sacrificed her career for becoming a homemaker.
City officials deleted the post 40 minutes after it went up. Both the city's account and Mayor Quinton Lucas issued online apologies that night, agreeing that the post was inappropriate.
The unnamed city employee who authored the post later lost their job.
But in the immediate hours after the post was taken down, online furor grew. Watts, a social media specialist, and another female city staffer, were soon singled out for scorn by the online mob, despite having nothing to do with posting the tweet.
Both are Black and were subjected to racist and misogynistic posts. They felt threatened when their own personal information was posted online. According to her lawsuit, Watts was identified through her Linked-In account. People posted messages that included her photo and photos of the entryway of one of her addresses 'and personal identifying information published for the purposes of threatening and harming' her.
She got death threats.
'There is no hole deep enough, no woods deep enough for you to hide in,' one post read, according to the lawsuit.
Another pictured a Black woman hanging from a tree in front of a photograph of the apartment building where Watts lived along with her full name and address.
That night, she asked that the city post a statement 'right away to clear her name,' but nothing was done, the suit says.
Two days later, on May 17, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey posted a letter to social media demanding records that would show who penned the Butker tweet.
That same day as the harassment directed at the two women, Watt's unnamed co-worker sent an email to Mayor Quinton Lucas, the City Council and city manager asking that steps be taken to clear their names, as they felt scared from being subjected to the vile harassment on line.
Lucas instead issued a general statement that day stating that some city employees were being falsely accused and harassed. But he did not mention Watts or the other woman by name and the harassment continued.
He also sent a letter to Bailey, alleging that his on-line statement had contributed to the climate that led to the ongoing threats towards Black women employed by the city.
The women were called the N word. Watts was singled out as 'a DEI hire' and a 'ghetto rat.'
The lawsuit claims that the city's 'refusal to end the harassment and discrimination by publicly clearing' Watts' name and that of her co-worker reflected 'a selfish desire to prevent negative media and public attention that would harm the City's reputation and more importantly City Manager Brian Platt's and Assistant City Manager Melissa Kozakiewicz's reputations.'
The names of Platt and Kozakiewicz are redacted in the public court record.
Platt was fired as city manager this spring after the city lost a lawsuit filed by former communications director Chris Hernandez. The latter claimed he was demoted because he and Platt disagreed on the importance of telling the truth to the news media and public. Platt was focused on the city's image, while Hernandez insisted on being truthful, the suit said.
Koazakiewicz oversees the city's communications office and remains a city employee.
Due to threats of harm and the release of her personal information, Watts said she asked that the city find her temporary lodging until the internet storm blew over, but claims her request was denied. The city also refused to make any attempt to scrub her personal information from the internet after she requested it, the lawsuit says.
She claims her worklife became hostile. She received increasing criticism about her job performance and other unfair treatment after complaining about how the city mishandled her situation.
Watts is still employed with the city. She is seeking lost pay and future wages, as well as punitive damages, attorneys fees and other costs associated with preparing the case.
She is represented by Erin Vernon and Lynne Bratcher, the lawyers who won the Hernandez whistleblower lawsuit. The City Council last month approved a $1.4 million final settlement that ends any further proceedings in that case.
The other woman who was doxxed has also hired an attorney who specializes in employment discrimination, who says she will file a lawsuit in the next couple of weeks.
