City Councilman Herbert Palmore said it is unusual for Dawson to miss a meeting without notifying anyone beforehand.
Anniston City Manager Don Hoyt said the fact that Dawson turned in the iPad is telling.
“That’s where he would get all the information for the council meetings,” Hoyt said.
Dawson turned in the iPad before the council meeting agendas and information were released, said Myra Bushard, Hoyt’s administrative assistant.
Hoyt said that during the last week Dawson sent an email saying that he could not attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the judicial complex scheduled for Monday morning. But Dawson had not resigned his position as councilman by Friday afternoon.
Dawson has had a difficult year. In January, he resigned his position at Anniston Pathology, he said, after disagreement with one of the partners. He had worked there for 30 years.
In February, Dawson, along with Regional Medical Center, Anniston Pathology Management Services and an RMC employee Tim Jones, was sued for sexual harassment by Kay Dodd, a cytotechnologist at RMC. The lawsuit alleges that Dawson created a hostile work environment, a charge Dawson denied.
Attempts by The Star over the last two weeks to reach Dawson were unsuccessful, though it is common for the councilman to not return the newspaper’s phone calls.
