A NewsChannel 5 investigation took an unusual twist when the man Metro hired to run Autumn Hills, the city's assisted living facility in Bordeaux, has sued the city, MDHA and two Metro councilmen.
Developer Mike Hampton is asking for $120 million in his lawsuit. Hampton claims that because he is African American, his rights were violated when the city cut ties with him and ended its deal to sell the land around Autumn Hills to him to develop.
Hampton maintains there was a conspiracy to oust him and he specifically calls out councilmen Jim Shulman and Nick Leonardo for interfering with his deal with the city and trying to stop it.
What's interesting here is that both councilmen began raising questions after our investigation of Autumn Hills uncovered tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills and other questionable business practices.
And we found the facility was not meeting other requirements of its contract with the city including maintaining insurance.
An audit by the city later found nearly half a million dollars in questionable spending at Autumn Hills and nearly a hundred thousand dollars missing from the residents' personal accounts.
That prompted a criminal investigation by the Davidson County District Attorney, which we are told is still underway.
