A former New Orleans City Hall official has sued the city in federal court, claiming that the city fired her after she reported payroll fraud and after Mayor LaToya Cantrell was “very annoyed” that she put her complaint in writing.

In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. Eastern District Court in New Orleans, former city Office of Workforce Development Director Sunae Villavaso claims she was wrongly fired in April, despite employee whistleblower protections embedded in state law.

While employed with the city in January 2024, the suit says, Villavaso reported that another city official was ignoring federal protocol for the disbursement of pandemic relief funds. Instead, that employee, then-city Adminstration and Planning Director Courtney Story, directed money to recipients she chose, Vil

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