Former Central Alabama Water general manager and 2 asst. GM’s sue CEO, board members over termination
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) — The former general manager of Central Alabama Water (CAW) filed a lawsuit Friday in Jefferson County Circuit Court against the utility’s new CEO and five board members, claiming he was wrongfully removed from a contract that runs through 2030 and that the company fraudulently labeled his termination as “administrative leave” to avoid paying him severance.
Macaroy “Mac” Underwood filed the complaint against CEO Jeffrey Thompson and CAW board members Jeffrey W. Brumlow, Bill Morris, Thomas C. Hudson Jr., Phillip R. Wiedmeyer and Jack David Standridge, as well as CAW itself — formerly known as the Water Works Board of the City of Birmingham (BWWB).
Who is Mac Underwood?
Underwood was General Manager of the BWWB from 2001 to 2018. After a period of retirement, he was brought back in 2024 by the then-sitting board and Underwood in the lawsuit says that was to stabilize the utility following years of billing problems.
Following a nationwide search of 59 applicants, the board in January 2025 board selected Underwood as general manager on the recommendation of retired Army Gen. Ron Burgess, who was hired as a consultant to lead the search.
“We had some very qualified candidates. Mac’s qualifications from a technical standpoint at the water works matched and clearly exceeded in a lot of cases,” Burgess said, according to the complaint. “What differentiates Mac is his understanding of culture, his understanding of the mission of this particular water works and the five counties it serves and being able to relate.”
In March 2025, the board signed Underwood to a contract paying $446,118 annually through Dec. 31, 2030.
What the lawsuit claims happened
According to the complaint, Thompson was hired as CEO on Nov. 20, 2025, the same day Underwood was placed on administrative leave. Underwood says he was told the leave would last until Dec. 15, 2025, but on Dec. 12, 2025, he was told the leave was indefinite.
On Dec. 15, 2025, the board voted to replace all prior executive management. The complaint says Underwood’s office locks were changed, his company email access was terminated in January 2026, and his personal belongings were boxed up and returned to him in February 2026.
The lawsuit argues that none of the conditions that would allow termination under Underwood’s contract were met. The contract allowed termination only by mutual agreement, material breach, disability or death, or a felony conviction. The complaint states none of those conditions occurred.
Under the contract’s terms, if the board terminated Underwood for any other reason, it was required to pay him a lump-sum severance equal to the full remaining value of the contract — all salary and benefits through Dec. 31, 2030, — within 30 days of termination. The complaint says that payment has not been made.
The fraud allegation
The lawsuit alleges Thompson and the board deliberately called the termination “administrative leave” to avoid triggering the severance obligation. The complaint calls this “fraudulent suppression and/or misrepresentation” and claims defendants conspired to conceal their intent to remove Underwood while avoiding the contractual payout.
The complaint also notes that in a separate, similar lawsuit involving another employee hired by the January 2025 board, CAW issued a joint press release stating the Alabama Attorney General’s Office had taken the position that the January 2025 board had full authority to enter into employment contracts like Underwood’s.
Legal claims and what Underwood is seeking
The lawsuit brings five counts: breach of contract, wrongful termination, tortious interference with business and contractual rights, conspiracy to tortiously interfere, and fraudulent suppression and misrepresentation.
Underwood is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, attorney fees and a jury trial. The complaint does not specify a dollar amount, but the remaining value of the contract through Dec. 31, 2030, would represent nearly five years of salary and benefits at $446,118 per year.
Two more lawsuits filed the same day
Underwood’s lawsuit was one of three filed against the same defendants on Friday. Michael Parker, who served as Interim Senior Manager of Customer Care, and Barry Williams, who served as Interim Assistant General Manager of Finance and Administration, filed separate but nearly identical complaints in Jefferson County Circuit Court the same day, making the same core allegations — that Thompson and the board placed them on administrative leave on Nov. 20, 2025, voted to replace all executive management on Dec. 15, 2025, and used the “administrative leave” label to avoid paying the lump-sum severance their contracts required.
Parker’s and Williams’s contracts, both amended in May 2025, each required one year of base salary to be paid within 30 days of termination. All three plaintiffs are represented by the same attorney and all three complaints allege breach of contract, wrongful termination, tortious interference, conspiracy and fraudulent misrepresentation against Thompson, the five board members and CAW.
WBRC reached out to Central Alabama Water for a response and are awaiting their reply.
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