Embattled city attorney John Houton, taking legal action against Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and other city officials, claimed his suspension and the impediments to his mayoral bid were acts of retaliation by the Wu administration. According to a Boston Globe report, Houton's lawsuit asserts that his administrative leave was directly linked to his decision to challenge Wu in the mayoral race.
In a complaint stretching 74 pages, Houton accused the city of effectively ending his career, tarnishing his professional standing, and equated his suspension to constructive dismissal that, also impeded on his mayoral campaign. “The city maliciously suspended plaintiff because it was their intent to thwart plaintiff’s candidacy,” Houton stated in his lawsuit filed on Nov. 3, as detailed in a Boston Herald article. His allegations included likening the city's stringent requirements for mayoral candidates to a "dead-end street" that inherently favored incumbents or well-resourced challengers.
Upon his suspension, a statement from the city justified the actions as necessary to maintain a "non-political" stance within the Law Department. Meanwhile, pursuant to this reasoning, the city highlighted, Mayor Wu’s detachment from the issue, affirming that all decisions regarding Houton's employment were managed by the city’s Human Resources department, with the guidance of external counsel. Nevertheless, the litigation points out discrepencies, citing Kerry Augustin, another city employee who bid for mayorship and remained at work, as noted by the Herald.
Houton's legal battle did not start without a context of struggle. Unable to collect the required 3,000 signatures to make the ballot for the preliminary election, he fell significantly short. His lawsuit argued that the city's high signature requirement and the limited time to gather them heavily favored incumbents like Wu and financially able candidates, an issue he labeled unconstitutional. “Boston’s combination of high signature count and short time frame is generally a dead-end street for aspiring candidates,” Houton's complaint noted, as obtained by the Globe.
In his effort to return to duties at City Hall, Houton bemoaned the unfortunate situation that led to his current state and emphasized his experience and ethics as an assistant corporation counsel over the past 18 years, a narrative which was presented in the Herald. Despite his lawsuit, Houton remains on paid administrative leave and has expressed a desire to regain his position within the city's Law Department. As the story unfolds, no responses have come from Mayor Wu's office regarding the legal complaint.
