WESTBROOK – Parties on both sides are hoping within the next few weeks to settle the lawsuit by former Fire Chief David Brock.
“I anticipate we will bring forward a settlement agreement,” City Administrator Jerre Bryant said, indicating such an agreement, which requires City Council approval, could be on the agenda for the council’s next meeting, scheduled for Aug. 1. That date is also the date the case is scheduled to go to trial, according to court records.
Brock’s attorney, Barbara Goodwin, of the Portland firm Murray, Plumb & Murray, confirmed Tuesday that her client reached an agreement with the city, and is only waiting on council approval to make it official.
“There’s a tentative agreement in place,” she said.
Bryant declined to discuss the negotiations in detail, but said city officials met with Brock at U. S. District Court in Portland July 14, and called the meeting “productive.” Goodwin also declined to discuss the agreement in detail.
Mayor Colleen Hilton announced in her inauguration speech in January 2010 that she would not be reappointing Brock to the position. At the time, Hilton cited a reorganization of the fire department, which was then reeling from management problems and sexual harassment lawsuits.
Brock responded by suing the city and the mayor, arguing that she had no right to dismiss him in such a way. Hilton cited a provision in the charter that gives her the power to appoint or not appoint certain officials, including the fire chief. Brock countered that a 1967 change to the charter forces the city to dismiss him for cause in a more formal process.
Brock is seeking punitive damages, saying he not only lost wages, but also suffered damage to his reputation and emotional distress. Brock also is asking for reasonable compensation for his lost job and for attorney’s fees and other legal costs.
The case was originally filed in Cumberland County Superior Court on July 20, 2010, citing Hilton and the city as co-defendants. From there, the case was referred to federal court.
On May 23, Judge D. Brock Hornby ruled against the city’s motion to dismiss. Hornby, in his decision, acknowledged that the city’s charter is confusing. He noted the 1967 change did not repeal the original provision cited by the mayor, an act he called “a legislative oversight.” He called the existence of both provisions for dismissing the fire chief “facially contradictory.” Hornby removed Hilton as a defendant from the case, ruling she acted carefully and only after consulting with counsel.
Eileen Shutts, vice chairwoman and secretary of the Westbrook Charter Commission, said the commission, which is in the process of updating the city’s charter, plans to eliminate “inconsistencies” like the one at the core of this case.
Bryant said Hornby’s ruling prompted last week’s meeting to discuss a settlement, and said the discussions are a common response to such a ruling, in an attempt to avoid going to trial.
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