CRESTLINE—The Crestline Village Council met in a special meeting on Thursday evening to approve an emergency appropriation that is needed to fund the first of two payments to be paid to former Crestline Police Chief Joseph Butler to meet the requirements of his lawsuit settlement with the village.
According to Village Administrator John Rostash, the first half of the $380,000 settlement to Butler had to be paid out by Friday to avoid the village being forced to pay a $5,000 interest fee. The other half must be paid to Butler by February of 2021.
Rostash said about 85 percent of the pay-out is coming from the village’s insurance policy that covers cases like that of Butler’s lawsuit.
The lawsuit was settled and filed on Aug. 31 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio’s Eastern Division in Cleveland. Butler, who filed the suit in late 2018 after being fired that fall after producing a video of former Mayor Allen Moore using racial slurs, originally sued the village and several individuals for $1.6 million and his reinstatement to his position of Crestline Police Chief.
In the settlement, Butler will receive $171,734.26 for non-economic damages, including emotional distress, and he is to be reinstated as an employee of the village from Nov. 19, 2018, to August of this year, with $57,944.93 in back wages. The payment will also include a pension contribution of $6,380, and $143,220.30 made payable to the Gittes Law Group for attorneys’ fees and costs. Village officials must also write a letter of reference for Butler stating that he is eligible for rehire and he left in good standing.
Butler agrees to not seek re-employment with the village during the time the current elected and appointed administrators are still with the village but can reapply once they are no longer there. The village administration must destroy all statements of charges issued to Butler on Oct. 30, 2018, and all other records related to those charges.
Council approved the appropriation unanimously.
The next regular council meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.