Agreement reached in police officers’ lawsuit against city of Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS — An agreement has been reached in seven Idaho Falls Police officers’ lawsuit against the city alleging they were passed up for promotion to sergeant, the city announced Friday.
In the lawsuit filed last August, Tim Downs, Spencer Steele, Josh Deede, Eric Anderson, Kyle Christopherson, Leendert Van Hulten and Stephen Avery accused the city of “cronyism, favoritism and disregard” and claimed Police Chief Mark McBride failed to promote them in favor of less qualified applicants under the city’s civil service rules.
In the agreement, one of the six plaintiffs still working for the department would be promoted to sergeant without back pay. The city has not promoted anyone to sergeant since May 2015, and Judge Alan Stephens ordered the city not to promote anyone to sergeant in August.
“One of our police officers unfortunately passed away during the term of the litigation, but his name symbolically will be considered for a promotion,” City Attorney Randy Fife told the City Council on Thursday. He was referring to Van Hulten, who died in February at his home. “However, the other six who are still with us … one of those will be chosen.”
Also under the terms of the agreement, the city would pay around $28,000 to the officers in attorney and court fees. According to a news release from the city, this would not have a drastic impact on its budget “due to some salary savings.”
City officials said they were satisfied with the settlement.
“The IFPD displays a great deal of professionalism, and all of the officers that were parties to this lawsuit are no exception,” Mayor Rebecca Casper said. “I believe that we will all look forward, not backward. We now will be able to restore our command staff to its necessary staffing level.”
Police Chief Mark McBride said during the litigation, the officers “never shirked their responsibilities. They continue to display dedication to protecting and serving the community.”
The officers’ lawyer, Dennis P. Wilkinson, has not yet returned a call from EastIdahoNews.com seeking comment.