Articles By Bob Gorsky BOLTON’S PAYDAY MAY BE COMING It’s not over until it’s over and it won’t be over until a judge, jury and maybe an appeals court sings, but a December 7, 2006 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has paved the way for Terrell Bolton to receive potentially a large sum of money as a result of his 2003 firing by former city manager Ted Benavides. A Dallas federal district court had ruled that Bolton did not have a “property right” in his job, but the appeals court ruled that the city charter gave Bolton a property right because it required, the city in cases where misconduct was not alleged, to return a removed chief to a lower rank previously held. The city had claimed that a previous Fifth Circuit opinion in the Willie Taylor/Robert Jackson case against the city had established that no property right existed, but the Bolton ruling distinguished his case from that of Taylor and Jackson. The court returned the case to the district court to address the issue of whether Bolton had held a civil service rank immediately prior to his chief’s appointment and other matters related to Bolton’s civil rights violation claim. Bolton had once served as a manager in the Dallas security force and the city claims he was not eligible for retention in any capacity. The court dismissed Bolton’s individual claims against Ted Benavides, but that ruling will not affect Bolton’s ability to get his money. I guess that I should point out that in this column in 2004, I predicted that Bolton would win his lawsuit (see “Bolton Will Collect” May/June 2004). In that column I told you that Bolton’s case was not like the Jackson/Taylor case because that case did not address the right of the city to outright fire the police chief. I also told you that in my opinion politics got in the way of good judgment and I predicted that Bolton would win the litigation at a costly sum to the City of Dallas. Bolton’s lawyer has stated that he’s lost close to 2 million dollars in retirement benefits as a result of the city’s action. Whether that will be the price tag is a matter for a jury or the product of settlement negotiations. ______________________________________________________________ MORE REINSTATEMENTS….. Three more (2 sergeants and an officer) who were fired in the multiple terminations last June were reinstated bringing the reinstatements from the June craziness to five and a back pay and benefits price tag that should be well in excess of $100,000. ______________________________________________________________ Bob Gorsky is a partner at the Dallas law firm of Lyon, Gorsky, Haring & Gilbert, L.L.P., 3131 McKinney Avenue, Suite 100, Dallas, Texas 75204; 214/965-0090, website: lyongorsky.com or email Bob at bgorsky@swbell.net. |