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Investigation

Roanoke City Council Told That Assistant City Manager Verbally Attacked, Physically Threatened Employee, Emails Show

After the employee quit, a senior official urged Council to fire Assistant City Manager Brent Robertson and City Manager Bob Cowell.

Henri Gendreau

• 5 min read
“In all my professional career, I have never been so brutally attacked,” an employee wrote to Roanoke City Council about an interaction with then-Assistant City Manager Brent Robertson in March. After the employee quit, a senior official urged Council to fire Robertson and City Manager Bob Cowell. ROANOKE RAMBLER FILE PHOTO

A city budget analyst told Roanoke City Council members last month that after a March 6 meeting, then-Assistant City Manager Brent Robertson “began verbally attacking” and “physically threatening” her so severely that she decided to quit.