A former Town of Mooresville, North Carolina, IT employee has filed a federal lawsuit alleging retaliation after reporting surveillance footage that allegedly shows Mayor Chris Carney inside Town Hall late at night without pants in October 2024.
Jeffrey Noble, who worked in the town’s information technology department, filed the complaint Jan. 12, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, naming Carney and two other town officials as defendants. The lawsuit claims Noble was fired after reporting what he believed were serious ethical and security violations involving the mayor.
Unusual late-night mayoral access badge swipes
According to the lawsuit, the incident occurred in the early hours of Oct. 10, 2024, when Noble, while reviewing building access logs as a normal part of his job, noticed unusual late-night swipes by the mayor’s access badge at Mooresville Town Hall.
Noble alleges that town surveillance footage shows Mayor Carney entering Town Hall shortly after midnight with a woman who had worked as a communications consultant for the town. The lawsuit further claims the video depicts Carney moving through secured hallways without pants for an extended period.
Police were reportedly called after motion detectors were triggered, but did not search Carney’s office, where the woman allegedly hid. Noble says he immediately reported his concerns about the footage and irregular access logs to his supervisors.
Instead of an internal investigation, the lawsuit claims town leadership restricted access to the video and limited who could discuss or view it. Noble’s supervisors allegedly treated him as a suspect, accusing him of leaking the footage to the media, which he denies.
The complaint asserts that Noble was subsequently placed on administrative leave and forced into an “administrative interview” in June 2025 with a third-party private investigator, a Mooresville police detective, and a police canine unit. Less than a month later, on July 3, 2025, he was told his termination was recommended. Noble is seeking damages, including lost wages and harm to his reputation.
What Carney said happened
According to media reports, Carney has previously acknowledged being at Town Hall late that night, stating he returned to pick up his phone and was there with a friend after “mixing wine with an anti-anxiety medication” and waiting for the effects to wear off. Carney told reporters at the time that any footage would show him in hallways and that there was no video of him in his office.
Carney, who was re-elected in November 2024, reportedly took an extended leave of absence from Oct. 17 to Nov. 12, 2024, shortly after the incident. Town officials have refused to release the surveillance video, citing exemptions in the North Carolina Public Records Act and arguing it potentially involves law enforcement information.
Carney has not publicly responded to the new lawsuit, and Mooresville officials did not comment as of the latest reports. The town previously argued in a separate lawsuit that the footage is not a public record because it could show the mayor in a “personal, and potentially embarrassing position,” and Carney’s attorneys have sought a protective order against his deposition in that case.
As of mid-January 2026, Noble’s federal lawsuit is in its early stages, with no trial date set. The controversy has also spawned a separate legal battle with a local news outlet (WBTV) seeking the release of the surveillance footage under public records laws.
Published: Jan 16, 2026 08:17 am