Denver mayor's office calls new airport lawsuit "horses***"

A senior lawyer at Denver International Airport filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the city and three top officials, claiming he was pushed out of his job after warning that the Park Hill Golf Course land swap could violate federal law and jeopardize airport funding.

The lawsuit was filed by Everett Martinez, the airport's general counsel and executive vice president. He alleges city officials pressured him to change his legal counsel, and when he refused, they retaliated by putting him on administrative leave.

City officials quickly pushed back. In a blunt response, Jon Ewing, a spokesperson for Denver Mayor Michael Johnston, called the lawsuit "40 pages of horses*** from a disgruntled employee."

Martinez, a Harvard Law School graduate who became the airport's top lawyer in 2022, previously served with the Denver City Attorney's Office starting in 2016. He oversaw a team of 18 attorneys and support staff at the airport.

According to the complaint, Martinez, 46, ran into conflict with city officials over the Park Hill Golf Course land swap. The deal involved the city giving land near the airport to developer Westside Investment Partners in exchange for the 145-acre Park Hill Golf Course.

Martinez contends he warned officials the swap could violate federal law. He further alleges he was told "to conceal a material fact from the Federal Aviation Administration" and "not keep records regarding the real estate deal."

In one of the more serious allegations, Martinez claims three top mayoral appointees — City Attorney Miko Brown, Chief Financial Officer Nicole Doheny, and Chief Strategist Jeff Dolan — pressured him to help "get rid" of airport CEO Phil Washington.

Martinez alleges that, in August, the acting city attorney called him and directed him and his team not to keep records of the real estate transaction, saying, "Keeping records would scream treble damages to the FAA." Martinez says he responded by instructing his legal team and Washington "to keep records of everything."

He further claims the city retaliated against him in multiple ways, including "essentially telling him to admit his Park Hill real estate deal legal opinions and advice were wrong."

According to the complaint, the city placed Martinez on administrative leave last week and told him he could no longer serve as general counsel.

Martinez also recounts a January meeting with Brown in which he says she told him he had "zero credibility," was "full of s***," and added, "maybe this isn't the place for you."

In one of the most explosive allegations in the lawsuit, Martinez claims Brown suggested he "get a noose and hang yourself with it" if he did not get "on board" with a plan to "take care of" Washington.

The lawsuit also accuses Brown of unethical conduct involving Key Lime Airlines. In 2025, the Denver City Council voted to bar the airline from a lease at the airport because it was using aircraft to deport people based on their immigration status, according to reports from multiple nonprofits, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not dispute. Denver's City Council agreed with the findings and rejected the lease, with one council member voting for it, 11 voting against it, and one member absent.

Martinez alleges Brown urged him to fabricate an investigation into Key Lime to justify the decision to the FAA. According to the lawsuit, Brown asked airport officials in January whether they investigate airlines for safety violations. When told that responsibility lies with the FAA, Martinez claims she responded, "well, you all should investigate Key Lime yourselves."

"If the FAA comes knocking," the lawsuit quotes Brown as saying, "I want to be able to have in my back pocket that (the) Council was also voting (no) because of safety issues."

Martinez says such actions would be "likely illegal" and "unethical."

The mayor's office strongly disputed all of the allegations.

"This lawsuit is 40 pages of horses*** from a disgruntled employee. There is no 'plot' to remove the head of the airport – and the plaintiff certainly wasn't conscripted into one," Ewing said. "The City Attorney didn't say the things listed here. No one called for a fake investigation on Key Lime. And the Park Hill deal was and is entirely legal and followed all FAA obligations as well as federal law."

Ewing added that Martinez "has not been asked to violate the law or city policy" and "has not been drawn into a conspiracy," but instead "violated his ethical obligations to the city" by taking positions opposed to his client and disclosing privileged information.

In response to the city's denial, Martinez told CBS News Colorado that extensive documentation exists to support his claims.

"My team, the airport, and I kept a tremendous amount of contemporaneous records of all the allegations discussed in the court filing," he said. "It's all there for the public to see, and certainly a judge."

The case now heads to federal court, where the competing claims will be tested.

See the lawsuit below: