Wednesday at 11 a.m., Belhaven Mayor Adam O’Neal, Rev. William Barber and NAACP lawyer Allen McShirley, among others, gathered in front of the Beaufort County Courthouse in Washington to announce two new steps in the legal battle against Vidant Health and Pantego Creek LLC.

McShirley officially announced the decision to file an appeal on behalf of both the town and the NAACP to have the state Court of Appeals review Superior Court Judge Stuart Albright’s decision to throw out the lawsuit alleging fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unfair trade practices.

Rev. Barber, who is the president of the North Carolina NAACP, also announced that a complaint would be filed with the United States Department of Justice to launch a federal investigation into why Judge Milton Fitch was not allowed to stay with the lawsuit.

Last year Vidant pushed the case to federal court, but upon its return to state court in early 2015, Vidant filed a complaint to remove Fitch from the case, as the attorneys felt he was biased.

Barber said he thinks it was in part due to Fitch being African-American, and wants an investigation as to why the decision to remove Fitch was made without a fair hearing.

“Justice delayed. Justice denied. People are dying,” he said.

More information about the press conference will be available in Thursday’s edition of the Daily News.