MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Area Transit Authority has fired Deputy CEO Bacarra Mauldin after an internal investigation, the transit agency said Friday.
Mauldin’s termination by Acting CEO John Lewis, with support from the MATA board, was effective Thursday.
MATA said the investigation concluded Mauldin violated the agency’s procurement and travel policy and did not take steps to ensure compliance among her direct reports.
“These findings represent a serious breach of the standards and expectations we uphold for all MATA leadership and staff,” MATA said in a statement. “Our focus moving forward is to ensure stability, restore trust, and continue providing safe, reliable, and equitable transit services for the people of Memphis.”
Mauldin was placed on leave by the agency earlier this month after MATA said it discovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in misspent funds.
MATA said the questionable expenses included a $603,000 Memphis Grizzlies sponsorship, $144,000 in American Express charges, and $56,000 for food and catering services.
Mauldin’s attorney, Vanecia Belser Kimbrow has previously called the investigation a witch hunt after years of mismanagement and said Mauldin was actually the whistleblower on the misspent funds.
Mauldin served as interim CEO for MATA before the agency’s board was replaced by the mayor, and Lewis, an employee of transit consulting group Transpro, was installed as acting CEO.
Kimbrow said Mauldin took the interim position without any increase in her salary because her time as interim CEO was described as “short-term.”
Her attorney said Mauldin’s prior role as deputy did not afford her any standing to engage in the fiscal management of MATA, nor did it allow her to create any policies or procedures.
Her attorney also said she was told by her board to simply “man the ship” while the agency conducted a national search for its next CEO.
“She was the whistleblower that came forward immediately upon gaining access to the fiscal records of MATA, only after becoming interim,” said Kimbrow.
Mauldin’s attorney said it was impossible for Mauldin to be the origin of these issues when she was the one who notified the board of MATA’s issues while she was out on family medical leave.
“The proof will bear out that Baccara Mauldin is the administration’s villainized scapegoat to keep the public blind to the long-known truth about the woes of The Memphis Transit Authority which Mrs. Mauldin discovered and disclosed,” said Kimbrow.
Kimbrow said the timeline of the issues presented by John Lewis does not add up. She said she would address Lewis’ libelous and slanderous statements, wrongful termination, and violation of federal rights against Mauldin under the FMLA Act and the Whistleblower statute.
