Judge Rules Fired Cabarrus Manager Can Access Closed-Session Recording

By Carolina Journal Staff

A Superior Court judge has ruled that former Cabarrus County Manager Sean Newton can access a recording of an August 2025 county commissioners’ closed session that preceded his firing.

Commissioners voted 3-2 to fire Newton just five months into his tenure as manager in 2025. He sued the county in May. Newton alleged in his complaint that commissioners claimed falsely that he was fired for cause in order to avoid paying up to 12 months of severance pay. He is seeking $290,000 from the county, according to published reports.

A trial in Newton’s case is scheduled for April 2027.

Cabarrus agreed to pay Newton’s predecessor, Mike Downs, $489,000, to settle a similar legal dispute over unpaid compensation.

Judge Troy Stafford issued a six-page order Thursday. It granted Newton a preliminary injunction and protective order.

“Defendant denied Plaintiff’s request for a copy of the audio recording of the August 18, 2025 closed session on the bases that the recording was of a properly held closed session, for purposes of consulting with an attorney and for discussion of a personnel matter, N.C.G.S. §143-318.11 (3) and (6), and that disclosure of the audio recording would frustrate the purpose of a closed session, as contemplated by N.C.G.S. §143-318.10(e),” Stafford wrote.

“Having conducted an in camera review of the audio recording, the Court finds and concludes that there was no exchange with the County Attorney and his presence was not identified on the portion of the audio recording provided by Defendant, and that the audio recording mainly depicts a question and answer session between the Board of County Commissioners and Plaintiff,” Stafford added. “Accordingly, the Court finds that the audio recording is not privileged and is otherwise discoverable by the Plaintiff, in this action.”

“[T]he Court finds that Plaintiff may only share the audio recording with his legal counsel, the disclosure to Plaintiff and his counsel shall be subject to confidentiality and non-disclosure requirements, and the audio recording and the information contained in the recording shall not be disseminated outside of the case or published in any way,” Stafford wrote.

“Plaintiff has therefore demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of his request for production of the audio recording of the August 18, 2025 closed session consistent with the limitations on disclosure and use that are set forth herein,” the court order continued.

“Plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm unless a preliminary injunction is issued requiring production of the audio recording to him consistent with the limitations on disclosure and use that are set forth herein,” Stafford wrote.

“Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law and is suffering, and will continue to suffer, immediate and irreparable harm absent the entry of a preliminary injunction consistent with the limitations on disclosure and use that are set forth herein,” the judge added.

Newton first sought access to the closed-session recording in September 2025, a little more than a month after his firing. The county refused to provide access “absent court order,” according to the motion for a preliminary injunction Newton filed on Sept. 2.

County officials responded that releasing material from the August 2025 meeting “would frustrate the purpose of a closed session as anticipated in N.C. Gen. Stat.§ 143-318.10(e) and set a dangerous precedent,” according to a court document.