DC Housing Authority Settles With Former Director Brenda Donald

The District of Columbia Housing Authority paid Brenda Donald, its former executive director, $20,000 on June 27, 2025, to settle the last surviving claim in the whistleblower lawsuit she filed against the agency, its board, and D.C. Councilmember Robert White. A judge had already dismissed her retaliation and constructive discharge claims, leaving only a breach-of-contract allegation for the parties to resolve.¹

What the $20,000 Actually Resolved

The settlement figure is small because the case was small by the time it settled. Donald’s suit, filed in mid-July 2024 as case number 2024-CAB-004377, started with three claims. A judge threw out two of them. What remained was her allegation that the DCHA board, and Chair Raymond Skinner specifically, never approved her 2023 performance plan despite her repeated efforts to get it on the agenda, which she said violated her employment contract.²

Available reporting does not indicate whether the settlement included non-disparagement language or any conditions beyond the payment itself.¹

The Claims Donald Brought and What Happened to Them

Donald’s complaint made three core allegations against DCHA, its board of commissioners, and Councilmember White:

Whistleblower retaliation. Donald argued that refusing to answer questions about her bonus during Council testimony was “protected activity” because the details were shielded by her contractual and statutory privacy rights. She said White’s questioning amounted to a “pattern of reprisal and retaliation” and subjected her to what she called “a cacophony of abominable, hate messages.”²
Constructive discharge. Donald alleged the hostile environment gave her no choice but to resign to protect “what was left of her reputation and health.”²
Breach of contract. Donald alleged the board failed to approve her 2023 performance plan, in violation of her employment agreement.²

The first two were dismissed. Only the breach-of-contract claim survived to settle.¹

A spokesperson for White said at the time that the councilmember was aware of the lawsuit and that Council attorneys were reviewing it. No further comment was offered.²

The Bonus That Set the Fight in Motion

The dispute traced back to a single payment. On January 6, 2023, Donald received a $41,250 bonus, equal to 15 percent of her $275,000 salary. D.C. law caps bonus pay for such positions at 10 percent of base salary.³

Donald’s chief of staff said a board ad hoc performance review committee had evaluated her and determined she was entitled to the payment. No documentation of that committee’s membership or its metrics was disclosed. Former board members said they knew of no such approval, and a newly constituted board did not hold its first meeting until nearly three weeks after the bonus was paid.³

At-Large Councilmember Robert White, who chaired the Council’s housing committee, became the most vocal critic. In an April 2023 letter, he called the bonus something awarded “in a suspect and likely illegal way.”⁴ At a contentious Council hearing that followed, Donald refused to disclose who had approved the payment.⁵

Donald’s Departure From DCHA

On May 4, 2023, DCHA announced that Donald would leave that summer. Her contract had been scheduled to expire at the end of September 2023. The official notice did not cite a reason. Board Chair Raymond Skinner thanked her for her leadership.⁴

Donald had led the agency since 2021, appointed interim executive director by the DCHA Board of Commissioners in May of that year and made permanent by August.⁶⁷ Her tenure ran alongside an October 2022 HUD assessment that identified more than 80 deficiencies at the agency and 220 contracts issued in violation of DCHA’s own procurement rules, with the department threatening to declare the District in default of its federal contract unless immediate action was taken.⁸

She also clashed publicly with her own internal auditor. In November 2022, Petuna Cooper, head of DCHA’s Office of Audit and Compliance, told the board the agency had awarded roughly $875,000 in contracts to a Virginia-based software company called Verbosity without competitive bidding, alleging the contracts were split into smaller emergency purchases to avoid board scrutiny. Donald defended the arrangement as a cleanup of an inherited contract, calling it “exactly the right thing to do.” Cooper invoked whistleblower protections, saying Donald had threatened retaliation for reporting directly to the board, and Commissioner Kenneth Council publicly called for Donald’s removal.⁹¹⁰

Where DCHA Stands After the Case

Keith Pettigrew took over as executive director in November 2023 and launched a formal three-year recovery plan in June 2024 to address the HUD findings.¹¹¹² Pettigrew resigned in March 2026 to lead the Chicago Housing Authority, with Deputy Executive Director Nicole Wickliffe appointed interim executive director effective April 18, 2026.¹³¹⁴ Cooper, the internal auditor whose work clashed with Donald, was placed on administrative leave in December 2025 after filing her own whistleblower lawsuit alleging bid rigging and financial malfeasance under Pettigrew.¹⁵ Those matters are separate from Donald’s settled case.

1
Washington Post. DC Housing Authority Reaches Settlement With Former Agency Head
2
Washington City Paper. Former Director Brenda Donald Is Suing the Housing Authority, Its Board, and Robert White
3
District Dig. Self Serve
4
DCist. DC DCHA Director Brenda Donald Resigns
5
Washington Post. Brenda Donald Bonus DCHA
6
DC Housing Authority. DCHA Board of Commissioners Names Brenda Donald Interim Executive Director
7
Street Sense Media. DCHA Director Will Step Down Amidst Agency Overhaul
8
Washington Post. HUD DC Public Housing Failures
9
DCist. DCHA Allegedly Illegally Contracted With Software Company
10
District Dig. Clean Up Crew
11
District Dig. Time of Reckoning
12
DC Housing Authority. Three-Year Recovery Plan
13
Washington Post. Housing Authority Chicago Washington Director
14
DC Housing Authority. DCHA Board Resolution on Executive Director Transition
15
Washington City Paper. DCHA Internal Auditor Placed on Administrative Leave