On Monday I began this series with Thomas Carruthers Attacked By Rabid Dogs, Part 1 in which I pointed out that Greensboro City Attorney Thomas Carruthers was a tax cheat who was ordered to pay almost $20,000 to the IRS in 2007. The amount was reduced from $27,000.
In Thomas Carruthers Attacked By Rabid Dogs, Part 2 I brought up the fact that Mr Carruthers filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2005 running out on $677,222.oo in business and personal debt that included money owed to my very own Aunt Dorothy, a 90 year old widow of a decorated WW2 veteran from the D-Day invasion of Normandy.
Today I'm going to come as close as I can to answering two questions that I have been asked about Thomas D Carruthers on numerous occasions.
Question #1. Is Thomas Carruthers related to the very prestigious Carruthers & Roth Law Firm that has long been here in Greensboro?
To answer that we begin with this screen grab from that other news & record:
Well that proves his father Joseph T Carruthers Jr was involved with Carruthers & Roth. As a matter of fact, according to creation filings from the NC Secretary of State, Carruthers & Roth was originally named Falk, Carruthers & Roth P. A. and Joseph T Carruthers Jr was a founding partner in the company.
But Thomas Carruthers, the only attorney named Carruthers who is currently listed at the NC Bar doesn't work for the company his father founded-- why?
By the way, State Representative Joseph T Carruthers Jr grew up in what we now call East Greensboro and graduated from Bessemer High School in 1925. For those not as old as me, Bessemer High School was located on Bessemer Avenue where Erwin Elementary School stands today. The gym there is left over from the high school. The North Carolina National Guard Armory on Franklin Boulevard is named the Joseph T. Carruthers National Guard Readiness Center for Tom's father.
Tom's grandfather Joseph T Carruthers Sr, a Greensboro pioneer, was born in Columbus, Georgia in 1877 and died in Greensboro in 1947. Tom was born into greatness and became the typical 3rd generation spoiled brat. Which Brings us to
Question #2 Has Thomas Carruthers ever been involved with the other Greensboro law firm that bears the Carruthers name, Alspaugh & Carruthers, LLP?
For that we go to Tom's City Attorney Bio where we find:
"City Attorney, City of Greensboro, September 2014 to present
Assistant City Attorney, City of GreensboroAssistant District Attorney, Supervisor of District Courts, 18th Judicial District, Guilford CountyHenson & Henson, LLP, GreensboroAlspaugh & Carruthers, LLP, GreensboroLatham, Wood, Hawkins & Carruthers, LLP, Burlington, NC"
Well I guess that answers that question.
In fact the March 11, 2005 Bankruptcy Filings indicate that Alspaugh & Carruthers, LLP was the business that Tom Carruthers was closing down as part of his Chapter 7 filing but apparently the business wasn't completely ruined as his partner John David Bartenfield was able to offer Tom $325,000 for their office building valued at just $300,000 according to the bankruptcy filings.
In other words, it would seem John Bartenfield wanted Thomas Carruthers out of the business and was willing to pay more than the building was worth despite the fact that Tom already owed him money he was never going to get back.
In other words, it would seem John Bartenfield wanted Thomas Carruthers out of the business and was willing to pay more than the building was worth despite the fact that Tom already owed him money he was never going to get back.
And interestingly enough, while Mr Carruthers' City Attorney Bio does list him as having worked at and was presumably a partner in a Burlington firm called Latham, Wood, Hawkins & Carruthers, LLP, no such firm is listed as ever having existed on the North Carolina Secretary of State website.
A mistake? Perhaps, but lawyers are supposed to be so great at crossing Ts and dotting Is....
Could it be possible Thomas Carruthers falsified his resume for employment at the City of Greensboro?
Stay tuned for Thomas Carruthers Attacked By Rabid Dogs, Part 4
Stay tuned for Thomas Carruthers Attacked By Rabid Dogs, Part 4
