In 1996, he received his Bachelor of Arts at Concordia University, a private Christian University in Mequon, Wisconsin. Brody serves on the board of Union Day School in Waxhaw, North Carolina,[2] a charter school launched in 2016 to serve K–3 students. The school is a tuition-free, publicly funded school run by an independent board.[3] Brody is a formerly licensed general contractor who has built homes in Union, Mecklenburg and Gaston counties.[4] He faced several civil suits in a decade that alleged he failed to pay for materials or services rendered, according to an WSOC-TV news report in 2012; Brody claimed the allegations were politically motivated.[4] He is sometimes cited as having served in the US Navy (Reserves) from 1985 to 1993.[5] His father served in the military (WWII), as did his grandfather, Joseph L. Brodowski (original surname to Brody).[6]
Controversy
On May 11, 2018, on his Facebook page, Brody called public school teachers in Union County, North Carolina, and North Carolina "Teacher Union thugs" in relation the 2018 North Carolina teachers' rally planned in Raleigh, the state capital.[7] Teachers' unions are illegal in the state of North Carolina.[8] Brody defended the statement in a later interview with WBTV, saying that use of the "thug" phrase was about national unions. "When you pull the curtain away and see who’s pulling the levers on this, it’s the national teacher union and those are the ones I was referring to," he said. He also said he wasn't trying to say anything negative about local teachers.[9]
