Last week, Judge Marshall Whitley denied a motion filed by attorneys for the City of Attorney, who were hoping to dismiss a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant.
Continue reading Court Denies City of Alameda’s Motion to Strike Ann Marie Gallant’s Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
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Yesterday, a federal court judge dismissed fraud claims against former Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant, in a lawsuit against the City of Alameda over the city’s termination of SunCal as the master developer for Alameda Point. The case is 10-cv-05178-CRB in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. On August 15th, former Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant filed a long-anticipated lawsuit against the City of Alameda, claiming wrongful termination, breach of contract and emotional distress. Ms. Gallant’s employment with the City of Alameda was terminated on December 28th, 2010, when Mayor Marie Gilmore, and Councilmembers Lena Tam and Rob Bonta voted to dismiss her. Action Alameda News has learned that, despite coverage through the California Joint Powers Risk Management Authority, (CJPRMA) the City of Alameda is still potentially on the hook for $2 million in four employment related lawsuits. This is due to a $500,000 “retained limit” amount in the City’s coverage through the authority. Should former firefighter Ronald Vanderheiden, former Alameda Fire Chief David Kapler, former Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant, and former City Attorney Teresa Highsmith succeed in their employment-related cases against the City, the total the City would have to pay out before the CJPRMA steps in would be $2 million. Correction: A closer reading of the complaint reveals that Kapler is in fact claiming $4 million in damages – $2 million for general damages to his reputation and $2 million in special damages. See items 81 and 82 in the claim, below. On April 14th, former Alameda Fire Chief David Kapler filed a lawsuit against the City of Alameda, and others, for wrongful termination, breach of contract, defamation and other causes, over his dismissal from the City of Alameda late last year. In his complaint, among other allegations, Kapler alleges that Alameda City Councilmember Lena Tam “conspired with members of the firefighter’s union to wrongfully” terminate him. He further alleges that Lena Tam attempted to coerce then-Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant to terminate him without good cause. Kapler is claiming Former Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant has filed a claim against the City of Alameda citing damages sustained at a closed-door Alameda City Council meeting on December 28th, 2010, wherein three council members voted to effectively terminate her contract. Filing such a claim is typically a predecessor to a lawsuit. In a closed session meeting last Tuesday, Alameda City Council considered several items but rendered few decisions. In a press release issued yesterday by Lisa Goldman, Acting City Manager for the City of Alameda, the City said that the Council’s actions on December 28th, including the firing of former Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant, were legal and in compliance with the Brown Act. Late last month, SunCal refiled their federal lawsuit against the City of Alameda in the Northern District of California. Court documents show that the court in southern California ordered the case transferred to the Bay area pursuant to a City of Alameda motion to dismiss or transfer the case. Last night, the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve a resolution to allocate $419,000 from the District’s General Fund to continue operations of the Woodstock Child Development Center child care programs until December. The District is hoping that a plan from Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant to secure Community Development Block Grants for the program will back-fill the allocation. Additionally, rumblings from Sacramento suggest that the State budget won’t cut funding for the child care programs after all. |
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