FORKS — The city of Forks paid $19,818.55 to former police officer James Dixon to settle a lawsuit for unpaid overtime Dixon said he accrued while caring for the department’s K-9 officer dog, Robyn.
The Forks City Council formally approved the settlement of the lawsuit, which was filed in March 2008, late in its Sept. 14 meeting, Mayor Nedra Reed said in a prepared statement.
Dixon had initially asked for more than $100,000, said both Reed and David Neupert, Dixon’s attorney.
Neupert said the settlement works out to payment for about 30 minutes per day while Dixon was a city employee.
“We’re really glad we were able to get to a settlement, even though it took longer than we anticipated, but of course we weren’t the only party involved,” Neupert said.
“My client is satisfied and glad that the city will own to the overtime obligation.”
Reed said that in settling, the city did not admit to any liability.
“The city did not admit liability, but this was costing thousands and thousands of dollars,” Reed said.
The attorney fees on the case totalled $39,323.75 for the city, Reed said.
“This is the final legal situation for the city that had to be resolved, and now we are all free to move on to do what we need to do for the budgets next year and get our city into better financial shape.
“The city can how heal and move on.”
When Dixon left the Police Department for a position as a sheriff’s deputy in 2007, he said he was never paid the overtime he was due as the K-9 handler, both Neupert and Reed said.
Reed said the settlement was reached in the second mediation session. The first was required by the federal court, which has jurisdiction over cases when a government entity is sued.
Legal fees
So far, the city has spent more than $300,000 in legal fees during the last two years, Reed has said.
She has said that the money was spent on investigations into allegations of misconduct on the part of Forks Police Chief Mike Powell — in which he was cleared — the process of terminating three Forks Police Department employees in February 2008, an unsuccessful attempt to bring a proposed recall of Reed to a vote and a sexual harassment claim filed by one of the employees who was terminated.
Deanna Dematteis, JoElle Munger and Tom Scott were terminated in February 2008 after bringing allegations of alleged misconduct against Powell in early 2007.
Scott now is running for a City Council position in the November election.
Scott and Dematteis were among those who signed a recall petition against Reed. The petition was found insufficient by a Clallam County Superior Court judge in April 2008.
Sexual harassment charges brought by Munger against Powell in 2007 were not sufficient to prompt state charges, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decided in June 2008.
Seattle arbiter John Hayduke determined in August the city of Forks had sufficient cause to fire the three Police Department employees, saying the officers “proved to be utterly determined to continue an active campaign to disparage and undermine the chief of police.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.