EMMITSBURG,
Md. – What had once been a multi-million-dollar lawsuit
against the Town of Emmitsburg by a former town commissioner
has been reduced to one charge that the town had inadequate
procedures in its ethics ordinance, which carries no financial
penalty.
Frederick
County Circuit Court Judge Julie Stevenson Solt heard arguments
to dismiss the various counts of a lawsuit against the town
filed by former Emmitsburg Town Commission Arthur Elder
on Aug. 15. In an order written Aug. 31, she dismissed four
of the five counts.
“The
one [count] about the town having adequate procedures in
place for the ethics board and commissioners carries zilch
for a penalty,” said Mayor James Hoover.
However,
Elder’s attorney Rosemary McDermott sees it as a step
toward clearing Elder’s name.
“If
the town of Emmitsburg had followed the state-mandated ethics
rules, Art Elder would never have had an investigation against
him,” McDermott said.
Elder
filed suit in the circuit court against members of the town
government on Nov. 23, 2005, seeking $5.4 million in damages
he claimed resulted from the town’s ethics investigation
against him. The investigation determined that Elder had
violated the town ethics code.
A
U.S. district court judge reviewing the constitutional issues
alleged in the suit in April 2006 rejected Elder’s
due-process-related claims, and dismissed a claim that the
town should pay Elder’s legal fees. However, the remaining
charges were remanded back to Frederick County Circuit Court.
Solt’s
ruling dismisses the charges of bias, defamation, negligence
and emotional distress against the town, mayor and commissioners.
With
regards to the count that the town did not have proper procedures
in place for an ethics investigation, Solt wrote in her
opinion, “…there exists a genuine issue of material
fact with regard to whether the Emmitsburg Code of Ethics
and the State Code of Ethics are similar, and the Town of
Emmitsburg in its official capacity is not entitled to judgment
as a matter of law or dismissal for failure to state a claim.”
The
court date for the remaining count has not been set yet,
but it will be only attorney arguments without witnesses,
according to Hoover.
