"Hit List" Charges at the LNVA

Things got a little heated at the Lower Neches Valley Authority (LNVA) Board meeting in Beaumont Wednesday afternoon after a longtime employee accused the organization of retaliation and having a "hit list". Lionel Briggs who has worked for the LNVA for 33 years told the board that he is working under hostile conditions and fear of retaliation. He says he fears for his job because he's been told his name is on a "hit list" to be fired and two other employees on the list have already been fired or demoted.
Briggs spoke during a hearing before a standing-room only crowd. He also had three other witnesses who were also African American employees testify to their own fears for their job and racial discrimination by General Manager Scott Hall who is white and was also present at the meeting. Hall denied that there was any kind of hit list. Emotions ran high after the board told the group that they couldn't do anything about a hit list because there was no evidence of a hit list. "This is ridiculous," Attorney Anne Bradley said. "Do you want to wait until he gets fired to do something about this?," said Camille Briggs. After hearing those comments and others, the board decided to take some time to investigate the matter further to find out what's really going on. Those in attendance included Camille Briggs, Attorney Anne Bradley, NAACP President Judge Paul Brown, Paul Jones, Eric Brisco, and Rodney Bushnell.