UPDATE:
By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
In its response to a Sept. 23 open records request from Glasgow News 1, the city has released a copy of the settlement agreement and correspondence between attorneys showing that a financial settlement was reached after mediation to resolve a civil lawsuit filed by former Glasgow Police Department Chief Jennifer Arbogast against the city.
A check dated Sept. 11, 2024, in the amount of $75,000 was made payable to Scott Zoppoth and Jennifer Arbogast. Zoppoth is Arbogast’s attorney. The check is from the Kentucky League of Cities Insurance Services Association, the city’s insurer.
Also as part of the agreement, KLCIS was also to pay the fee for the mediation,; Arbogast released her claims against the city and any persons associated with it, essentially; and the city did not admit to any liability.
Each party was to pay its own respective attorney fees and court costs.
It was agreed that, “except as required by law or court order, or in consultation with a tax or financial advisor” the parties would keep the terms of the settlement “confidential to the greatest extent possible.”
— For more details about the lawsuit, please refer to the originally published report below.
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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT 8 A.M. SEPT. 27, 2024
By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
A resolution – albeit an unknown one – has been reached with the case in which Glasgow’s most recent former police chief had sued the city.
An agreed order of dismissal was filed with Barren Circuit Court and signed by Circuit Judge John T. Alexander last week, stating that “the parties announce to the Court that all claims asserted or assertable in this matter have been resolved,” and with the court being “sufficiently advised” of this, such claims were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be brought back before the court. Each party was made responsible for their respective costs and attorney fees.
No further information about the manner in which the case was resolved is stated in the Sept. 19 document.
The lawsuit filed in Barren Circuit Court in April alleged gender discrimination, a hostile work environment and disparate treatment in violation of state law.
Arbogast, who began working for the GPD Sept. 27, 2002, according to the court document, told Glasgow News 1 in mid-February 2023 that she had been asked by Mayor Henry Royse – then less than three months into that role – to resign from her position at the top of the Glasgow Police Department, but she was then allowed to retire effective April 1, 2023, instead.
The city, in its response in April, denied any claims of wrongdoing, and there had been no further filings in the case until the dismissal order.
Glasgow News 1 asked City Attorney Rich Alexander to describe the way in which the case was resolved. His response was: “It was settled pursuant to a confidential agreement.”
When asked specifically whether he could say whether there was a cash settlement, he said he could not.
Alexander added that he had, at that point, seen an open records request filed with the city by Glasgow News 1 asking for documentation of any payments made or intended to be made to Arbogast.
“All I can say is that the city is not making a payment,” he said. “There’ll be no future payment made by the city.”
It seemed he slightly emphasized the word “city,” so GN1 then asked about whether the same would be true of the city’s insurer.
“It’s subject to the confidential agreement,” the city attorney said, declining further comment.
Mayor Henry Royse confirmed there was a confidential agreement.
“The important thing you said was that it’s resolved,” he said. “We did agree to confidentiality as to how it was resolved.”
He said that was done “in the interest of moving forward,” but he also confirmed the city itself is not making any payment to Arbogast.
Royse said any negotiating to reach that agreement was done through the city’s insurance company, and he emphasized again that the matter is resolved.
GN1 asked Arbogast initially whether she had received a financial settlement from the city and then later requested confirmation of the scant information obtained and asked about how she felt about the end result.
She declined to respond, referring any questions to her attorney.
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