Advance Indiana has a post on a public records matter (that was also flagged by a commenter here). A former city employee of the City of Crawfordsville brought an EEOC charge against Mayor Zumer. That matter was settled, but the terms of the settlement include a nondisclosure clause. The AP covers the story here.
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.”
I suppose the attorneys are free to decline to comment, but the Indiana Court of Appeals recently held that a settlement agreement entered into by a governmental entity or its insurer is a public record. Knightstown Banner, LLC v. Town of Knightstown, 838 N.E.2d 1127 (Ind.Ct.App. 2005).
The Knightstown case appears to be similar to the Crawfordsville case. The Knightstown case involved a police dispatcher who alleged sexual harassment. The case was settled, but the Town of Knightstown refused to disclose the terms of settlement because of a confidentiality agreement. I don’t see any reason that the Crawfordsville settlement’s confidentiality provisions would hold up where the Knightstown provisions did not.
Thanks for putting this up. I hope that someone in Crawfordsville makes an open records request. I don’t know anything about Crawfordsville or any of the parties involved, but the principle of the thing just ticks me off.