Two separate federal lawsuits filed last week by Martinsville Mayor LC Jones and former city manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides mark the latest chapter in the city’s ongoing political and legal turmoil.
Filed Monday, June 8, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, the lawsuits name the City of Martinsville, Councilman Aaron Rawls and/or the Sands Anderson law firm as defendants. Although the cases involve different legal claims, both stem from the investigations, public controversy and personnel actions that unfolded over the past year.
Jones
Jones’ 47-page complaint names Rawls and Sands Anderson as defendants and alleges violations of his constitutional rights, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The complaint alleges Jones was wrongfully targeted during efforts to remove him from office following allegations of misconduct that ultimately resulted in his suspension, but did not result in his removal. Martinsville Circuit Court dismissed the removal petition in May. The judge found that the petition did not include the number of required signatures.
According to Jones’ complaint, allegations in the five count suit include false accusations, retaliation for protected speech, racial discrimination, conflicts involving the law firm and others.
He alleged that Rawls and Sands Anderson manufactured allegations of misconduct and then helped circulate them through investigative reports, legal filings and communications with prosecutors and the media. The complaint repeatedly characterizes the accusations as false and politically motivated.
Among the lawsuit’s central claims is that Jones was targeted because of both race and protected speech.
Jones, who is Black and serves as Martinsville’s third Black mayor, alleges that Rawls made racially charged comments and engaged in a pattern of conduct directed at Black elected officials, Black-led organizations and Black community institutions. The complaint cites statements and incidents dating back more than a year and argues they demonstrate discriminatory intent.
The filing also alleges that the law firm was never properly appointed as city attorney under requirements of the city charter.
The lawsuit also alleges that Sands Anderson had a financial stake in the result it produced as “its bills to the City has risen 245% in a single fiscal year, and Mayor Jones and the City Manager were the officials publicly questioning those bills.”
Rather than submit its own conduct to the independent outside counsel every authority said the circumstances required, the lawsuit states Sands Anderson “investigated the officials who had questioned it – turning scrutiny outward, away from the Firm and onto those who had raised it.”
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees, declaratory relief and a jury trial.
Ferrell-Benavides
In a separate 52-page lawsuit, Ferrell-Benavides names the city, Rawls and Sands Anderson as defendants.
According to the 10 count complaint, allegations included discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environment, due process, breach of contract, and defamation.
Ferrell-Benavides, who was hired in 2023 as Martinsville’s first female city manager and first Black female city manager, alleges city officials and attorneys improperly targeted her after she questioned legal spending and other city operations. The lawsuit contends that accusations of financial misconduct leveled against her were unsupported and damaged her professional reputation.
According to the complaint, the Martinsville City Council unanimously approved a salary increase for Ferrell-Benavides on July 22, 2025, finding her performance “sufficiently praiseworthy.” The lawsuit alleges that hours later city officials received investigative findings from outside counsel and subsequently suspended her.
The lawsuit further alleges that Sands Anderson, which served as legal counsel to the city, operated under conflicts of interest because questions had been raised about the firm’s billing practices and relationship with the city. Ferrell-Benavides claims the firm should not have participated in the investigation that led to disciplinary action against her.
The lawsuit also alleges that Ferrell-Benavides lost more than her job.
“On July 23, 2025, the same day the Council placed her on indefinite administrative leave, it was publicly reported that she was a finalist for the City Manager position in Elgin, Texas. The suspension and the publicly broadcast accusations foreclosed Elgin and every comparable senior-municipal-executive role for which she was qualified. The City has not paid the approximately $220,000 in severance her contract required, has not provided a copy of the Sands Anderson report on which it fired her, and has not held a name-clearing hearing,” the lawsuit states.
Among other relief, Ferrell-Benavides is seeking backand frontpay and compensatory damages for emotional distress, humiliation and physical injury. She also requested a jury trial.
Asked for comment Tuesday, Rawls said he stands by the comments he made to the Star News last week.
“I know it looks horrible for our community, and I know it sounds kind of perverse in a weird way, but there’s one person who’s happy about all of this and it’s me, because all I’ve ever wanted was the facts to come out,” he said.
Noting that he had not been served at the time of the interview, Rawls said a question he received beforehand was whether he thought the case was a press release masquerading as a lawsuit.
“That makes me think they don’t actually want to go to court, and that would make sense to me. I don’t think they’re stupid enough to go through discovery with what they’ve done,” he said.
The filings, Rawls said, contain “provably false” statements. He did not specify which statements. He added that he does not believe the lawsuit will be heard in court.
Martinsville City Manager Rob Fincher did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Sands Anderson could not be reached for comment.
