Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Crawsfordsville Settles Sexual Harassment Claim Against Mayor

The City of Crawfordsville has settled an EEOC charge brought against Mayor John Zumer by a former city employee who complained that Mayor Zumer fired her after she spurned his sexual advances, but they're not telling the public what's in the settlement. The AP reports:

The settlement was reached Monday during a mediation session held by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission involving Mayor John Zumer, former assistant Summar Keesee and their attorneys.

"The case is resolved," said Keesee's attorney, Bruce Petit. "There is a nondisclosure required in the settlement, so we really can't say more than we've resolved it to a mutual satisfaction."


Excuse me, nondisclosure or not, this settlement is a matter of public record. Taxpayers money has been used to defend and settle this charge, and the taxpayers have every right to see the terms of that settlement agreement. I don't see an exclusion in Indiana's Access to Public Records law which covers settlement agreements in litigation against a governmental body.

1 comment:

Doug said...

Knightstown Banner LLC v. City of Knightstown would seem to back you up that the settlement agreement is a matter of public record.