Judge orders Southwest Licking utility to pay former GM

A Licking County judge’s ruling invalidated the firing of the former general manager of Southwest Licking Community Water and Sewer District due to an issue involving the Ohio Open Meetings Act.

In a summary judgment filed April 22, Licking County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Marcelain found the executive session the SWLCWSD Board of Trustees entered into during their March 26, 2020 meeting to be improperly constituted. Following that executive session, the board voted to terminate former board member and general manager John Carlisle’s employment contract.

“...The relevant authorities reflect that the Board did not act in strict compliance with R.C. 121.22(G)(1) by specifically articulating its purpose for entering into executive session,” Marcelain wrote, later adding “...the action subsequently taken at a public meeting following the improperly constituted executive session must be invalidated.”

In June 2020, Carlisle filed a civil lawsuit against the SWLCWSD Board of Trustees in Licking County Common Pleas Court. Board members Larry Kretzmann and Robert Platte are also named as defendants in the case.

Carlisle’s complaint alleged the board violated Ohio’s Open Meetings Act three times and as such, he sought injunctive relief preventing the hiring of another general manager while the case was pending, along with reinstatement as general manager for the entity. He also sought economic damages to his professional reputation and lost opportunities, compensatory damages against all defendants, the cost of Carlisle’s attorneys’ fees, expenses and costs, and any other relief the court deemed just.

According to a second civil complaint filed by Carlisle against the board, Carlisle sought to amend his complaint to add a fourth alleged violation of the Ohio Open Meetings Act, which was denied by the court. He recently filed the second civil lawsuit against the board alleging the violation instead.

The board declared an employment contract with Carlisle to be “null and void” in April 2020 following an investigation of concerns including the handling of the GM’S job posting and subsequent changing of the posting to remove certain requirements spelled out in the job description; hiring process and issues tied to personal relationships of key figures who were subjects of the investigation, and the structure and approval of Carlisle’s eventual contract as general manager for SWLCWSD.

Several ethical questions were raised about the situation: Carlisle voted as a board member to change the job description for the GM job he later obtained. Then board member Mike Fox also voted to appoint Carlisle, who was in a romantic relationship with Fox’s daughter.

In his complaint, Carlisle alleged the board did not properly post notice of a special meeting held Nov. 26, 2019, where board members Kretzmann and Platte voted to employ an outside investigator to look into a citizen’s complaint about the process to hire a new manager, as well as place on Carlisle on administrative leave.

Four months later, Carlisle said, the board also didn’t properly give public notice of a March 26, 2020 special meeting in which the board voted to terminate his employment contract. He claimed he was never informed by the district board that his employment would be discussed at the special meeting, which deprived him of his right to request a public hearing.

Carlisle argued the district board had entered into a lawful employment contract, which was reviewed by two attorneys and prompted him to shut down his business, wrongfully placed Carlisle on administrative leave and opened an investigation into Carlisle during an improperly posted meeting, improperly conducted an executive session which included a “bathroom caucus,” and rescinded Carlisle’s employment agreement by a 2-1 vote when a unanimous vote was required.

In conclusion, Marcelain instructed the SWLCWSD Board of Trustees to comply with the Open Meetings Act and pay a forfeiture of $500 plus attorneys’ fees and court costs, in an amount to be determined, to Carlisle.