An attorney for a former employee of state Treasurer Dennis Milligan asked Thursday to amend his defamation lawsuit yet again to add further allegations against Milligan's chief of staff, Jim Harris.
Meanwhile, the attorney for Milligan and Harris filed a motion asking a federal judge to deny a previous request from former employee David Singer to amend the lawsuit.
A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 12 on Singer's request, in the lawsuit, for a preliminary injunction that would require Milligan to hold a name-clearing hearing for Singer.
Singer was fired April 27 and filed his defamation lawsuit May 28, alleging that Harris spoke in a "disgusting manner" about Singer's deceased wife while he grieved her death from breast cancer, and told people, including journalists, that Singer had "mental problems." The suit also claims that Milligan fired Singer because he thought he was mentally ill and in retaliation for exercising his rights under the state Whistle-Blower Act to speak out about the use of public funds for political activities.
On Thursday, Singer's attorney, Luther Sutter, asked a federal judge to allow him to amend the lawsuit to add allegations that Harris continued making "slanderous and defamatory remarks" against Singer after the lawsuit was filed, which Sutter said shows that Harris has a "pattern and practice of smearing opposition with baseless accusations for political and personal gain."
The proposed new lawsuit, which was filed as an exhibit to the request, accuses Harris of calling Bryant Police Chief Mark Kizer on July 20 to falsely accuse Singer of committing a felony, in the process causing the chief to question Singer's integrity.
The purported felony concerned making a false report to Benton police about 6 a.m. July 18 that caused about 15 officers to go to the home of Milligan's executive assistant, Holly Beaver, while she and her 9-year-old son were asleep.
A July 21 email purported to be from Harris to Kizer was attached as explanation. In it, Harris wrote, "As we discussed, there was an incident of 'swatting' of a Treasurer's office employee last Saturday morning," in an apparent reference to a SWAT-team call-out.
The email said a man called police, gave them Beaver's address, and said he "killed his girlfriend and her two children. The caller then said he would kill himself and his girlfriend's grandmother if police came to investigate."
Harris purportedly wrote in the email, "The main suspect is a former employee who was terminated from his job. Both the Benton Police Department and the FBI are investigating this incident."
The email continued, saying, "Please be advised that a similar 'prank' may be attempted on me since I actually terminated this former employee. I would ask that any Bryant officers carefully look at any calls coming in regarding my home. If such a call comes in, please attempt to trace the source."
It noted that "I will be out of town July 26-29" and that "he may try something while I am gone." It was signed "Jim Harris."
Byron Freeland, the attorney for Harris and Milligan, later responded in a court filing, "Any statement made to the Bryant Police Chief by Defendant Harris was made because of legitimate concerns about the safety" of Harris and his family.
Freeland's filing adds that Harris "had a reasonable expectation that the Bryant Police Department would not tell anyone outside the police department about the contents of this communications that did not have a 'need to know.'"
Sutter's motion to amend the lawsuit also contends that the police chief called Rick Meyer, a private citizen, about a call the chief received from Harris that also "implicated Meyer."
Metro on 07/31/2015