City Of Columbia Job Opening Assistant City Counselor

$88,974/yr -$109,438/yr; Commensurate w/Training & Experience

The City of Columbia, Missouri is hiring an Assistant City Counselor. The purpose of this job is to provide legal services and advice on diverse areas of municipal law to the city, including city management, staff, elected officials, and board and commission members. Researches and creates contracts, legal documents and opinions and represents the City in litigation, administrative hearings and other civil matters before courts, administrative agencies and other forums. This position is in the Counselor/Civil Division. This is advanced professional work that requires the ability to communicate complex ideas effectively, both orally and in writing. A thorough knowledge of legal issues affecting local government is required. Juris Doctorate from accredited program required. 3 years’ legal experience is required; experience in local government or public sector law experience preferred. Other relevant work experience or training may substitute for legal experience. Missouri Bar license required. HOURS: Generally Monday – Friday; 8am.-5pm Occasional evenings and weekends. For a complete job description and application go to www.gocomojobs.com. Position is open until filled. The preferred application date is March 1, 2024.

Jury Awards Employee 2.8 Million For Wrongful Termination

The December Edition of Missouri Lawyers Weekly, reported that a Jackson County jury recently awarded a pharmacist (Employee) , 2.8 million for wrongful termination of a long term employee who was employed at Sam’s Club West, (Employer), based on missing a COVID test.   Wife of Employee tested positive for COVID so Employer sent Employee home for the day. Employee tested negative and returned to work. After developing a low-grade fever, Employee was sent home, but again tested negative. Employer then terminated Employee alleging that Employee bypassed the mandatory health test when he checked in. Employee argued that no one was at the screening both and that the screening app was not working. Jury awarded 2.8 million dollars for wrongful termination.  Mohammad Khoshneviszadeh v. Sam’s West, Inc. (2116-CV52507 10/11/23)

Missouri Supreme Court Weighs Immunity For Covid Liability

The December Edition of Missouri Lawyers Weekly reported on arguments involving immunity for COVID liability before the Missouri Supreme Court.  In the case at issue Mary Gray was a resident at Clinton No 1 Inc nursing home and alleges the facility negligently placed a COVID-19 positive resident in Gray’s room and exposed her to the virus. The case issues primarily revolve around federal law that protects businesses and health care facilities perhaps limiting the impact of the decision. Nevertheless, we will be watching this case to see if it provides any insights to local governmental liability. The case is State ex rel.. Clinton No.1 Inc. v. Baker, (SC100099, Heard 12/13/2023)

U. S. Supreme Court Considers Law Limiting Use Of Public Space For Homeless People

The United States Supreme Court granted cert in a case involving whether or not local government can ban the use of public property for camping.  The city wrote, in its brief: “The courts have created ‘a judicial roadblock preventing a comprehensive response to the growth of public encampments.’” The City of Grants Pass argued:  Without the ability to act, , such encampments have led to “crime, fires, the reemergence of medieval diseases, environmental harm, and record levels of drug overdoses and deaths on public streets.” We will be watching this case very carefully. Hopefully the Court will respond in time to provide guidance to the Missouri legislature and local government, which has tried to pass legislation to manage the issue of homeless people on public property.   See:  Amy Howe, Justices take up camping ban case, SCOTUSblog (Jan. 12, 2024, 3:23 PM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/01/justices-take-up-camping-ban-case

Disabled Employee Awarded Two Million Dollars For Disabled Employment Discrimination Against Legislature

The Western District., affirmed a two-million-dollar jury verdict for a disability claim against the State for Qualls, a disabled employee, who worked for the legislature. Prior to working at the House, Qualls was diagnosed with several mental health disorders, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (“ADHD”). According to Qualls’s psychiatric records, Qualls’s anxiety symptoms included “worry[ing] about everything,” “possible panic attacks,” and “some OCD2 symptoms.” As a result of his disorders, Qualls found it hard to work in the workspaces he shared with other House analysts. Qualls started his employment working in an open-plan room that was “shaped like a half-donut” with cubicles in the basement of the State Capitol. According to Qualls, the basement office was “very, very loud” with “phones going off the hook.”

The basement office contained multiple printers, and Qualls had a refrigerator next to him and microwave units behind him. Qualls likened the noise of the basement office to a “boiler room,” and stated that the front door was closing “all the time,” with state representatives entering and exiting often each day and large tour groups sometimes coming through the space as well. In June 2016, the basement office underwent renovations and the analysts were temporarily relocated to a committee room. Qualls found the committee room worse than the basement because the analysts’ desks were arranged so that everyone was “looking at each other.” To mimic the cubicle he had in the basement office, Qualls surrounded himself with boxes, a filing cabinet, and a bookshelf so he could “focus” and feel “safe.” Despite these attempts, Qualls could not escape the noise and would sometimes “break down” and cry in a bathroom stall. Qualls requested an accommodation and when granted, it was disputed as to whether of not it was adequate.

Following the February 9, 2017 meeting, Qualls constantly felt “cornered” and made several attempts to schedule a meeting with Crumbliss to discuss Research Director’s unfair criticism leading to him being unfairly punished as the only analyst not receiving a pay raise in February 2017. After several failed scheduling attempts with Crumbliss’s office, Qualls sent a letter to Crumbliss dated February 22, 2017. In this letter, Qualls documented Research Director’s supervisorial workplace violations (failing to promptly notify Qualls that Research Director was dissatisfied with Qualls’s tardiness at the UMKC meeting in October 2016), dishonesty (first urging he and other staff to stay home instead of travel in inclement snowy weather a month earlier, but then criticizing Qualls for taking the travel safety advice), and discriminatory misconduct in singling out Qualls for a denied pay raise given to all other analysts without any legitimate basis. Qualls sued and a jury awarded him two million dollars.  The Western District affirmed on the grounds that the evidence produced by Qualls evidence satisfied all of the elements in in his verdict director.

“Simply put, Qualls presented sufficient and substantial evidence that was probative on the issue of Qualls’s qualifying disability under the MHRA, and Qualls has, thus, demonstrated on this record a submissible case relating to Qualls’s disability discrimination claim.” Qualls v. Missouri House of Representatives, (WD85799, 12/12/2023).

Comment Howard: This was a case where the State did not have their act together prior to disciplining Qualls. The Court in reviewing the evidence, time and time again, noted that the evidence by the State fell short. Prior to firing an employee the employer needs to check its evidence to make sure it is sufficient to sustain the dismissal.

Missouri Voter ID Law Will Again Be Challenged Again

There is a very good article in the December Edition of Missouri Lawyers Weekly on whether or not Missouri’s voter ID law is constitutional.   HB 1878 requires a non-expired photo ID, but allows those without this identification to cast a provisional ballot, which may be counted only if the voter returns to their polling place to show proper ID or if the signature matches what the state has on record. State officials are confident that the new law is constitutional, but there is a challenge to the law by the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition. We will be watching this case.  NAACP v. State of Missouri, 22AC-CC04439, Cole County

Improper Turning Movement and Fleeing Crime Discussed

Michael Smith made an improper turning movement and was pursued by a police officer who turned on his lights and siren to initiate a traffic stop. Smith slammed on his brakes trying to escape but eventually drove into a ditch. In order to effectuate the arrest, the officer had to taser Smith several times.  Smith was convicted and appealed on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient to support the arrest for resisting an arrest by fleeing.  The Southern district upheld the conviction under Section 575.150, which prohibits fleeing “for the purpose of preventing an arrest,” noting that the State’s evidence meets all of the elements of the crime. State of Missouri v. Smith (SD37866, 12/4/2023).

City Did Not Control Access To Street Leading To A Two Million Dollar Jury Verdict for Denying Access To The Street

A St. Louis County jury awarded developers two million in damages for due process violations and an unconstitutional taking of property, where the City of Chesterfield attempted to impose restrictions on developers by denying them access to a street that was controlled by St. Louis County. The City had no right to impose these access restrictions on the developers since the county controlled the access to the street.  Energy Marketing 709, LLC v. City of Chesterfield (17SL-CC01389).

Comment Howard:  It is not uncommon for the state and the county to retain control of the streets inside a city by defining rights, duties and obligations in a contract, which include who controls access. Be sure to check these agreements to avoid the mistake the city made in this case.   

Exhaustion Of Administrative Remedies

In a case before the Missouri Supreme Court a class of Jackson County property owners filed a class action against Jackson county, several officials, and Tyler Technology alleging their conduct resulted in illegal and unlawful increases in the assessed value of their properties. The specific issue raised was that the notice of the increased assessment was untimely and that the county failed to conduct physical inspections of properties when they evaluated there was increase in value of 15 percent or more. Tyler Technology moved to dismissed at the Circuit Court level and when the case was not dismissed it obtained injunctive relief from the Supreme Court and in the pending matter sought to make the injunctive relief permanent. There are a variety of issues in this case. The court heard arguments on whether the suit against Tyler Technologies could proceed despite the property owners failing to exhaust their administrative remedies. An additional question is whether Tyler Technologies owed a contractual duty to the property owners, whether Tyler Technologies owed a common law duty, and whether the harm to the property owners was foreseeable. Tyler Technologies Inc, v. The Honorable David Chamberlain, (Hearing 12/13/2023, SC100298)