Bankruptcy lawsuit filed against former mayor over work at bus company

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Channel 9 is investigating a major legal fight involving former Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx. The lawsuit was filed by a person investigating DesignLinie's bankruptcy.

Channel 9 obtained a copy of a federal bankruptcy case filed Friday that claims Foxx received hundreds of thousands of dollars as a corporate attorney for DesignLine, a company that made hybrid buses, but didn't fulfill his job.

https://twitter.com/lizfosterWSOC9/status/631148544783687680

Channel 9 previously reported Charlotte Douglas airport spent $5 million on buses made by DesignLine that all later broke down. The airport is owned by the city and the some of the bus purchases were made while Foxx was mayor and worked for DesignLine.

Eyewitness news anchor Liz Foster spoke to Bryan Stone, a local bankruptcy attorney who represents other creditors in this case. He gave us his perspective on Foxx's involvement.

"There certainly is a little gray area between those two relationships and in any lawsuit, especially now that one has been filed, there's an opportunity for the court to request certain information which includes business records, maybe emails," Stone said.

In the less than four years, Foxx worked for the company, he was paid at least $420,997, including overtime pay, but quote "spent little to no time" at the office, according to the lawsuit.

DesignLine claims it hired two outside law firms and paid them millions for legal counsel; all while paying Foxx for the same job.

Foxx resigned from DesignLine one day before becoming U.S. transportation secretary.

Now, DesignLine's former corporate headquarters is empty and when Foster tried calling, a recording said, "We're sorry. You've reached a number that has been disconnected."

Our Eyewitness news reporters in Washington, D.C., reached out to Foxx's office for comment and did not hear back.

More lawsuits connected to this case are expected involving a number of people.

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