Earle settles with fired police officers

Earle settles with fired police officers

3 cops terminated by former mayor net $ 90K, get jobs back

news@theeveningtimes.com

Earle has settled a lawsuit with three police officers who were fired by former Mayor Carolyn Jones when she took office for $90,000. The city will also be required to hire the three back at their former rate of pay and will not be able to fire them for one year unless it is for cause.

The city was sued in 2015 by former officers Tommy Hampton and Waldo McWans, as well as former chief Jerry Eaves after they were fired within weeks of Jones taking office.

Jones refused to give any reason for the firings other than that the three were atwill employees and blamed budget cutbacks. However, Jones then hired four new officers — all of whom were black — on the same day the others were let go.

Hampton, McWans, and Eaves claimed in their lawsuit that they were let go because they were white.

Keith Wren, a Little Rock attorney for the Arkansas Municipal League who represented the city in the lawsuit, said Earle will be responsible for paying $30,000 of the settlement.

“We have reached a tentative agreement,” Wren told the city council.

Under the settlement terms, the Municipal League will pay $60,000 of the $90,000 settlement.

The three officers must all be re-hired at their former rates of pay and are guaranteed

employment for a one

year period.

“They will not be at-will employees for that term,” Wren said. “Normally, under Arkansas at-will they can be fired at any time for any reason — good reason, no reason, or any reason at all. These three will have that one-year term. At the end of that year the agreement

is over.”

Eaves was fired by newly appointed Chief Tyrone Smith on January 12 on Jones’s orders and was never told by Jones that he was being let go.

“He stuck out his hand and introduced himself to Chief Eaves and said he is the new chief and Jerry no longer works there,” Hampton told Jonesboro TV station KAIT at the time.

Hampton was let go on January 13 and said that he was totally taken by surprise when he was fired by Smith because Mayor Jones had told them they were doing a good job.

“On his first official day, he (Smith) fired me before I even got to work,” Hampton told Memphis TV station WMC. “I was the leading officer. I had more arrests, more tickets, never been written up, never been late.” McWans was terminated on Jan. 19 by Smith for allegedly not showing up for his shift on Jan. 17 and 18, which he denied.

“Waldo came in for his shift and they told him he had been fired as a no-show no-call,” attorney Larry Jackson told the city council at the time of the firings. “He wasn’t scheduled to work on Saturday and Sunday and there was no schedule. We checked with his supervisor, who is afraid to be retaliated against.”

Jackson claimed that McWans firing also likely had something to do with the fact that he is active National Guard.

Eaves was earning $600 a week for a 40 hour work week. Hampton and McWans were earning $425 per week for 40 hours.

Wren said the agreement does not mean that Eaves will come back as police chief — only that he will be paid at his former rate of pay.

Earle currently does not have a police chief or any full-time officers.

The three officers will be contract employees.

“This is certainly an exception to that (at-will) rule for one year,” Wren said.

Councilman Kenneth Cross cast the lone no vote against settling the case.

“I’m against it,” Cross said. “We don’t have contract employees.”

“Well, you would now if you vote for the agreement,” Wren said. “You would have three.”

The city had to withdraw $30,000 from a CD to pay the claim.

By Mark Randall