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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Ind. Gov't. - East Chicago legal bills top $1.5 million
The Munster (NW Indiana) Times has a story today by Joe Carlson that begins:
East Chicago has spent at least $1.5 million in the past year defending itself from wrongful termination lawsuits from about two dozen city workers who were fired after Mayor George Pabey took office in 2005.City Attorney Carmen Fernandez defended the spending as necessary, while Councilman Anthony Copeland said Pabey's officials could have saved money by settling the lawsuits.
"If you look at a lot of these cases, they're meritless," Fernandez said. "Even if its cheaper, it would be illegal to give someone some money when they don't have a claim. ... You have to take a stand on some of these types of cases."
Copeland, who intends to run against Pabey in the 2007 mayoral primary, said Pabey's attorneys have settled several termination lawsuits that they inherited last year from former Mayor Robert Pastrick's administration. Those cases settled for about $30,000 apiece, he said.
"These costs are going to continue to skyrocket," Copeland said. "Until we put a fair and equitable system in place, where people can see why they were laid off, we're going to continue down this road.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 17, 2006 09:04 AM
Posted to Indiana Government