CMS to pay top lawyer $289,000 as she exits this month
Final day is Jan. 31; 2+ years left on employment contract
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Forced out? District’s top lawyer, André Mayes, to receive 1 year of salary under separation agreement; CMS board chair previously told The Ledger Mayes ‘decided to retire’
by Tony Mecia
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has signed a “mutual separation agreement” with its general counsel, André Mayes, that gives her one year’s salary of $289,000 when she leaves at the end of January.
The agreement, released to The Ledger on Wednesday, indicates that Mayes’ departure from her job as CMS’ top lawyer may not have been fully voluntary. In an interview with The Ledger on Saturday, school board chair Stephanie Sneed characterized Mayes’ departure as a retirement.
The Ledger previously reported that Mayes still had more than two years remaining on her contract. Under her employment contract, she would be entitled to one year of salary if she were fired from her job, which is the same amount her separation agreement calls for.
Asked by The Ledger on Saturday if Mayes would be receiving any supplemental bonus or had an employment separation agreement, Sneed said: “She decided to retire. She is getting what she is entitled to as a part of retirement.”
There was nothing in Mayes’ employment agreement, which The Ledger obtained in a records request earlier this week, that required a payment if she left the district voluntarily.
It is unclear why board members might have wanted Mayes out.
The separation agreement, signed on Saturday, says Mayes would not be required to work after Jan. 14. It contains language that says Mayes agrees not to sue the district for any claims she might have, and it requires CMS and Mayes from making “disparaging or defamatory comments about the other,” including “communications with the news media or made using social media.”
Records show her annual salary was $289,430, part of a total compensation package of $369,737.
Mayes, 65, has not responded to The Ledger’s attempts to contact her. —Tony Mecia
➡️ Read the separation agreement
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Related Ledger articles:
“CMS confirms exit of its top lawyer” (Jan. 26)
“Departing CMS’ general counsel has more than 2 years left on her employment contract, public records show” (Jan. 28)
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