07/25/1990 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e tlement. He said this reflected the City's judgment that the individual conduct of the defendants was appropriate under the circumstances, and that they had not engaged in any wrongful conduct. Mr. Gary said that once the plaintiff's charges against the individual defen- dants had been dismissed, the decision for the City became largely economic. He said civil rights lawsuits by their nature are complicated, and that this case included 19 individual lawsuits. He said he had recently tried a law- suit involving one civil rights claim, and the case took most of a week. He said the suit against the City would have lasted several weeks. He said that in addition to the defense costs there would have been significant disruption and cost in taking the 27 defendants out of their work places and into the courts for this length of time. He said the total defense cost would have been in the six-figure range, assuming the City won. Mr. Gary said that if the City had lost even one of the 19 claims filed against it, it would have been responsible not only for its own defense costs, but also for the attorney fees of the plaintiffs. Mr. Gary said another reason the City wished to settle the case out of court was the amount of public attention which would have focused on the trial. He said this would have dredged up the events of 1987, which it was in every- one's interest to get beyond. Mr. Gary said the settlement agreement included two main provisions. First, the City agreed to take steps with the Department of Public Safety to expunge e the arrest records of those individual teachers who had been arrested in connection with the strike disturbance. He said this was appropriate because of both the district attorney's decision that under the circumstances these individuals should not be prosected, and because the plaintiffs were teachers who were exhibiting their emotions in a labor dispute--not criminals. Mr. Gary said the City had agreed to have the Public Safety Advisory Commit- tee (PSAC) conduct a review of the process, policies, and procedures that are followed in connection with civil disturbances. He said this was the kind of review conducted by PSAC routinely. He said this would provide a forum at which everyone in the community could express their opinions about these issues. In response to a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Gary said the plaintiffs would pay their own attorney fees. Mr. Gleason said he was disappointed that the City had to spend any public money on the settlement of this case. He said he did not want to acquiesce in a situation where the police department acted correctly in a labor dispute and was then accused of wrongdoing. He said he was willing to have the case go to trial, but was persuaded that it was best for the City and the public not to fight the case because this would cause a great deal of turmoil, and would be costly. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 25, 1990 Page 7