Correction: Rogers aldermen declined to participate in an Oct. 21 settlement conference at the federal courthouse in Fayetteville for a wrongful-termination lawsuit. The wrong date was included in this article.
FAYETTEVILLE - A settlement conference in a wrongful-termination lawsuit ended abruptly after Rogers aldermen declined to participate for fear of being in violation of the state’s open meetings law.
Seven of the eight aldermen arrived Nov. 21 at the federal courthouse in Fayetteville with City Attorney Ben Lipscomb for an afternoon session, requested by federal Magistrate Judge James Marschewski. Reporters and other members of the public were barred from the courtroom.
Lipscomb said he expressed his concerns about a potential conflict of state and federal law to Marschewski, who then asked each of the aldermen present if he would participate. Each declined in turn, citing advice from Lipscomb that a meeting behind closed doors would violate a state law that requires the public’s business to be done in the open.
The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act allows closed sessions of a public body only in specific circumstances, including the hiring, firing or disciplining of an employee. There’s no exemption for discussion of settlements in a closed court session.
“On the advice of City Attorney Ben Lipscomb, I decline to participate in this hearing,” each of the councilmen told the magistrate, according to Betsy Reithemeyer, a member of the City Council.
The aldermen were released after they declined to participate in the meeting. Alderman Bob Goodwin did not attend.
Lipscomb said he argued that the magistrate did not have the right, under Article 4, Section 2 of the Arkansas Constitution, dealing with the separation of powers, to convene a legislative body.
Marschewski wrote in a Sept. 23 order that the Freedom of Information law doesn’t apply to settlement conferences.
“During these discussions the parties are often called upon to evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of their respective case. Parties … in a settlement conference would be reluctant to make any concessions or openly discuss all avenues of the settlement if they could expect that their statements … or settlement proposals would be published at large to the public,” Marschewski wrote.
The settlement involves a wrongful-termination lawsuit filed by Jerry Hudlow, the city’s former chief financial officer, who was fired by Mayor Greg Hines last year. Hudlow sued Hines and the city. The suit also contains a whistle-blower claim.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 10/30/2013