Latest lawsuit: former London city clerk says mayor, attorney wrongfully fired her
A former London city clerk says she was wrongfully terminated and sexually harassed by embattled Mayor Randall Weddle and city attorney Larry Bryson, according to a new lawsuit.
Marcy Berry, who served as city clerk from January 2021 to March 2023, claims Bryson and then-mayoral candidate Weddle worked together to preserve Bryson’s position as city attorney after it was jeopardized following the release of a scathing state auditor’s report in 2022.
Bryson, in return, worked to get Weddle elected mayor, sometimes instructing Berry to share information from inside city hall about his political opponents, the lawsuit claims.
Meanwhile, Berry says she was repeatedly subjected to harassment by city employees during her tenure as city clerk regarding her attire, gender and personal relationships. Both Weddle and Bryson participated in that harassment and retaliated against her when she reported it, the lawsuit alleges.
The civil complaint, filed in Laurel Circuit Court late last week, is the latest in a long string of state and federal lawsuits against Weddle, a divisive political figure whose administration has been ensnared in controversy since shortly after he took office in early 2023. Since then, the mayor has been locked in an ongoing public spat with his critics, whom he has a labeled “pedophiles.”
He has been criticized for his handling of the police shooting of a Laurel County man in December 2023 whose address police appeared to have showed up to by mistake. Last year, he was impeached by the city council on charges stemming from his influence on the police and ethics commission and alleged violation of open records and legislative process laws.
A special judge serving in Laurel County reinstated the mayor just days after his impeachment.
Meanwhile, Weddle and the police force are under federal investigation due to alleged misuse of an FBI crime information database, though the federal agency has not independently confirmed the probe. The city council, which has launched its own investigation, is seeking specific information from Weddle and others in city hall suggesting criminal background checks were performed on the mayor’s political enemies.
In an interview Tuesday with the Herald-Leader, Bryson denied a quid pro quo relationship with Weddle or any effort on his part to help get him elected. Weddle asked him to stay on as city attorney in early 2023, and he said he graciously accepted, he said.
He said he had seen a draft of the complaint several months ago and had heard nothing about Berry’s accusations against him and the mayor since. He had hoped she had “reconsidered and decided not to go forward.”
“It’s not true at all,” Bryson said. “This lawsuit is just one more, you know, in an effort to cause disruption within the city.”
Allegations of a calculating, vindictive political pair
Bryson has served as staff attorney for the small city of London since the late 1980s, barring the few days after Weddle was impeached and before he was reinstated. He has been a vocal supporter of Weddle, and the two appear to have formed a close political alliance that may date back to before the mayor was elected in 2022.
Berry claims Bryson was motivated by the April 2022 results of a special examination of London by former Kentucky State Auditor Mike Harmon, who found the city had mishandled taxpayer dollars. City Councilmember Kelly Smith Greene called on Bryson and former Mayor Troy Rudder to resign.
In 2023, Berry was called to testify in a city ethics commission hearing wherein Rudder accused Greene of bribing him to fire Bryson.
Berry’s newly filed lawsuit closely aligns with another wrongful termination complaint lodged against the two London political figures in November by a former sergeant with the London Police Department’s K-9 unit.
Both lawsuits paint Weddle and Bryson as a tight political duo that sought to dig up dirt against critics and lash out when under fire. The two plaintiffs give independent accounts of an effort to persuade Berry to feed Weddle politically useful information and describe a similar encounter where Weddle allegedly asked Berry “who are you screwing” at city hall.
Weddle did not respond to a Herald-Leader request for comment Wednesday.
The allegations have not been verified, and both plaintiffs are in a close personal relationship. They are represented by the same Covington-based civil attorney Brandon Voelker, who said Tuesday he has “never seen a level of government corruption and mismanagement anywhere close to this” in his 20-year-long career. Voelker also represents another former London police officer who claims Weddle and others defamed, threatened and harrased him because of his religious beliefs.
“I feel bad for the residents of London who are subjected to this,” Voelker said. “I feel bad for the number of employees that are doing their jobs — that were doing their jobs and been wrongfully terminated, harassed or whatever else by this rogue regime. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.”
Bryson, who is accused of making generalizations about Berry because of her gender and covering up for other employees’ sexually charged interactions with her, called those accusations lies. He said he helped promote Berry to her post as city clerk and is “extremely disappointed” she made the claims about him and his character.
Political disagreements have spilled out into the courts, he said, which is making it difficult for the administration to go about enacting meaningful change on behalf of London’s residents.
This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
