As previously reported, officer Hoskins-Brown was indefinitely suspended, otherwise known as fired, by the police chief after allegations of drinking cactus juice. The civil service hearing examiner reinstated her and she was subsequently fired again after the Williamson County Attorney and the District Attorney said they would refuse any cases filed by officer Hoskins-Brown.
Officer Hoskins-Brown sued in district court and lost. She appealed and won.
The City turned down Officer Hoskins-Brown's settlement offers. Offer one asked for $143,000 in damages, which included back pay, three years of lost opportunity overtime pay and money for mental anguish. Offer two asked for $83,000 in damages and an apology from the Police Chief. The city declined to accept either offer.
The City appealed to the Texas Supreme Court and they denied review.
After an open records request, the city has admitted they have spent $82,136.63 on outside counsel to handle the defense and appeals to the Texas Supreme Court. The City did not provide the cost of the city staff time that has been expended in this process. That would include the city attorney's time, city management time, human resources time and the police chief's time. One can imagine that many more thousands of dollars have been spent on this losing effort!
Note that this suit could have been settled back in October, 2015 for $83,000, except for the hubris of the council and city management. This appears to be a prime example of mismanagement by the city, especially after the appeals court ruled in Hoskins-Brown's favor. The appeal to the Texas Supreme Court was a waste of time and money.
It is worth noting also that the Texas Municipal League filed a brief to the Texas Supreme Court supporting Georgetown's appeal. The Texas Municipal League is a lobbying organization for cities for which the cities pay annual dues. They do not represent the average citizen or taxpayer and Georgetown should rescind their membership. Another post will explore this issue at a later date.
Now the question is, what is the status of officer Hoskins-Brown? Has she been rehired and damages paid, or has some other settlement been reached? Inquiring minds want to know.
Well since inquiring minds want to knowI thought I might take a moment to update them. The Third Court of Appeals mandate has been received by the 277th District Court stating that the action taken by the City of Georgetown was disciplinary and subject to civil service thus stating that Officer Hoskins was entitled to a civil service hearing to review the grounds for termination. Please note that those grounds were letters from the Williamson County District Attorney and Williamson County County Attorney that have since been rescinded. As to the Federal Lawsuit pending against the City and Chief Nero there is a scheduling order in place and a status hearing scheduled for April 14.
ReplyDeleteLets not forget the $43,000.00 that the City has been ordered to pay for Officer Hoskins-Brown legal fees. This would make the total $125136.63 that the Chief and Council has wasted.
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