PB mayor: Fired chief to be paid $350,000

ity representatives and former Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones (shown) entered into a day-long mediation Friday in U.S. Magistrate Judge H. David Young’s courtroom.
ity representatives and former Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones (shown) entered into a day-long mediation Friday in U.S. Magistrate Judge H. David Young’s courtroom.

PINE BLUFF -- Pine Bluff has agreed to pay a former police chief $350,000 to settle a federal lawsuit, Mayor Debe Hollingsworth said Friday afternoon.

City representatives and former Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones entered into a day-long mediation Friday in U.S. Magistrate Judge H. David Young's courtroom, hoping to settle the case before a trial scheduled for Monday morning.

The Pine Bluff City Council must approve the settlement before any money can be paid to Davis-Jones, Hollingsworth said. The council meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Officials with the Arkansas Municipal League, which provides legal assistance and limited coverage for cities that face such lawsuits, said the league will pay 50 percent of the settlement cost.

It was the second sizable settlement involving a city official in Arkansas this week. On Thursday, Rogers City Attorney Ben Lipscomb agreed to leave his elected office as part of a $390,000 deal that included the dismissal of a federal lawsuit in which he contended that the Fayetteville City Council violated his constitutional rights when it transferred most of his duties to a staff attorney who answers to the mayor.

Davis-Jones, who is black, claimed in her lawsuit that Hollingsworth, who is white, fired her "with malice" because of her race on Hollingsworth's first day of office as Pine Bluff's mayor in 2013.

Little Rock attorney David Fuqua, who represented Pine Bluff in the case, said the settlement was "in the best interest of the city."

Pine Bluff Alderman Thelma Walker said the city "really had no choice in agreeing to pay the money, considering how [Davis-Jones] was fired."

"This could have cost us millions if a jury had awarded the settlement. I feel like the amount would have easily doubled with a jury settlement," Walker said.

A phone number listed for the office of Davis-Jones' attorney, Austin Porter Jr., rang unanswered Friday afternoon. Attempts to reach the former police chief were also unsuccessful.

In her suit, Davis-Jones, 52, asked for her job back, back pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages and legal costs. The former chief said she suffered humiliation and mental anguish because of the termination, which her lawsuit claims was "retaliation for having increased the number of African-American officers with the Pine Bluff Police Department."

Davis-Jones was hired in 2010 from Georgia by former Mayor Carl Redus Jr. and served 2 ½ years as police chief before she was dismissed.

In 2012, a letter was circulated at a City Council meeting saying members of the south-central chapter of the Arkansas Police Benevolent Association had no confidence in Davis-Jones because of a lack of "consistency" with disciplinary cases.

Redus declined to participate in the City Council's "no-confidence" vote on Davis-Jones that followed. Redus could have broken the 4-4 vote.

Hollingsworth has previously said she had no choice in firing Davis-Jones, saying that the termination was a "mandate from the people about this all the way back to my campaign. They made clear that a change was needed within the Police Department."

Pine Bluff Police Department Lt. Jeff Hubanks replaced Davis-Jones as chief.

This is the second federal lawsuit alleging racial bias filed against the city in recent years.

Former Police Chief John Howell sued Redus in 2010. Redus, who is black, fired Howell, who is white, in 2010 for reasons not publicly given by the mayor.

In 2011, U.S. District Judge J. Leon Holmes dismissed the suit, saying it had no basis. Howell's appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was denied later that year.

Last September, Pine Bluff also paid $2,250 to settle an age-discrimination case with a former fire battalion chief.

State Desk on 01/31/2015

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