Friday, March 15, 2013
Michelle Hohmeier asked why the Boone settlement was approved so quickly when another alleged employee harassment case has been in the courts since 2011.
Ward 2 Councilwoman Michelle Hohmeier has questioned why the Susie Boone settlement was approved so quickly when another employee discrimination case from 2011 remains unresolved. The city council recently approved a $55,000 settlement agreement in the Boone discrimination case. Boone is the city's parks and recreation director. In October, she went public alleging Ward 4 Councilman Ken Moss had harassed her for more than two years. Boone claims the harassment began after Moss' sister was fired from the Parks Department in 2010. "Why is it when Ms. Boone files a complaint regarding negative hearsay, the city rushes to make a settlement in six months, and yet the (Alicia) Ott case has never been told?" Hohmeier asked at the March 7 city …
Arnold Police Chief Bob Shockey fired back at a councilwoman for publicly discussing the details of a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former police employee.
Arnold Police Chief Bob Shockey defended himself, his officers and his police department after ongoing litigation involving a former Arnold police detective was discussed at the March 7 city council meeting. During the meeting, Councilwoman Michele Hohmeier asked why the Susie Boone settlement was approved so quickly when another alleged employee harassment case has been in the courts since 2011. Hohmeier then began reading a narrative she'd prepared outlining allegations in a lawsuit Alicia Ott had filed against the city. "To convict my officers before anything is done is unacceptable," Shockey said to Hohmeier. "There are two sides to every story, and you have one, and it ain't right." Patch obtained a copy of the lawsuit filed in …
Friday, March 1, 2013
As part of the agreement, the parks and recreation director will be guaranteed a five-year contract and all future council communications to her will come through the city administrator.
The Arnold City Council has approved a $55,000 settlement agreement in the Susie Boone discrimination case. In October, Boone, the city's parks and recreation director, went public alleging Ward 4 Councilman Ken Moss had harassed her for more than two years. Boone claims the harassment began after Moss' sister was fired from the Parks Department in 2010. The council voted 3-to-3 on the agreement. Mayor Ron Counts broke the tie by voting in favor of the motion. Councilmembers Doris Borgelt, Ward 1, Michelle Hohmeier, Ward 2, and Sandra Kownacki, Ward 4, voted against the settlement. Councilmembers Bill Moritz, Ward 2, and Phil Amato and Paul Freese, both of Ward 3, voted in favor of it. City Attorney Bob Sweeney said since Moss was …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Ward 4 Councilman Ken Moss has filed a defamation lawsuit claiming the five "orchestrated a sham investigation" against him, according to a stltoday.com article.
Ward 4 Arnold City Councilman Ken Moss has filed a defamation lawsuit against four city officials and a private investigator - all of whom were involved in the investigation of a harassment complaint made by a city employee. In October, Susie Boone, the city's parks and recreation director, went public alleging Moss had harassed her for more than two years. Boone claims the harassment began after Moss' sister was fired from the Parks Department in 2010. That's when the city hired an independent firm to investigate the complaint. After the investigation was complete,five out of eight councilmembers - including Moss - refused to accept it into public record calling it hearsay and a "sham." The same five later voted to refuse a $6,800 …
Monday, January 7, 2013
The council hired Protective & Investigative Services to conduct an investigation on a complaint by a city employee that she was harassed by a city councilman for more than two years.
The Arnold City Council has refused to pay for an independent investigation from a company it hired to investigate an employee's complaint about a hostile work environment. Susie Boone, Arnold's parks and recreation director, claims she was harassed for more than two years by Ward 4 City Councilman Ken Moss. Boone says the harassment began after Moss' sister was fired from the Parks Department in 2010. At the council's last meeting, Ward 1 Councilwoman Doris Borgelt made a motion to remove the $6,800 payment to Protective & Investigative Services from the city's regular payment of bills. She called the report an "inferior product." The council voted 5-to-3 in favor of the motion. Ward 2 Councilman Bill Moritz and Ward 3 Councilmen Phil …
Friday, January 4, 2013
The Arnold councilwoman says the situation between Susie Boone and Ken Moss is going nowhere, and the city needs to move forward.
Ward 1 Arnold Councilwoman Cricky Lang has called for an end to the saga between Arnold Parks and Recreation Director Susie Boone and Ward 4 Councilman Ken Moss. "We just need to get past this," Lang said in front of a packed house at Thursday's City Council meeting. "There's so much that needs to be done in the city. We need to move forward." In October, Boone went public alleging Ward 4 Councilman Ken Moss had harassed her for more than two years after his sister was fired from the Parks Department. The city hired an independent company to investigate the claim. At its last meeting, the council refused to accept the investigation on a 5-to-3 vote. Lang, who was not interviewed in the independent investigation because she was hospitalized…
Thursday, January 3, 2013
A charge of discrimination was filed on Dec. 20 with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights on behalf of Susie Boone in regard to a hostile work environment.
A second complaint has been filed with the state in regard to Arnold Parks and Recreation Director Susie Boone's claim that she was harassed by a councilman for more than two years. Boone's attorney, Joan Swartz, told Patch she had filed the new complaint with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights on Dec. 20. At the end of September, Boone filed a complaint with the commission, but she said the agency responded that it couldn't do anything because it was not within its realm. "That's commonly what they (commission members) do when a complaint is filed," Swartz said. "You just have to resubmit it or send it to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. We haven't heard back from the commission yet." Swartz said complaint she recently …
The Arnold councilman denies Susie Boone's allegations that he harassed her for two years after his sister was fired was fired from the Parks Department.
Arnold Councilman Ken Moss says he has never harassed Susie Boone, the city's parks and recreation director. In October, Boone went public alleging Ward 4 Councilman Ken Moss had harassed her for more than two years after his sister was fired from the Parks Department. Boone filed a complaint with the city and the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. Boone said the agency responded that it couldn't do anything because it was not within its realm. Boone's lawyer filed a second complaint with the commission on Dec. 20. The city recently released the results of a $6,800 independent investigation into the matter. According to the summary, Boone's claim has merit. Moss and others have questioned the validity of the report. In the …
The Arnold councilman, who's been accused of harassing a city employee, claims the entire situation was politically motivated. Mayor Ron Counts calls Moss' statements "ludicrous."
Arnold Councilman Ken Moss says he was asked to resign from his position in September over allegations that he harassed the city's parks and recreation director. Moss, of Ward 4, told Patch that during the Sept. 20 closed city council session on personnel matters, he was asked to leave the room. He said that 40 minutes later, Mayor Ron Counts, Police Chief/Acting City Administrator Robert Shockey and City Attorney Bob Sweeney took him to a room in the Police Department and asked him to resign. "They told me Ms. Boone had a list of allegations," he said. "They said that she was going to file a complaint and a lawsuit against the city unless I resigned from my position immediately and agreed not to run for public office while she was an …
If the council doesn't reverse its decision to accept the independent investigation on Moss' alleged harassment of a city employee, Moritz says he intends to call for Moss' removal.
Doris Borgelt
9:47 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
So, it's not a good idea to try your lawsuits in public? That is of course, unless you are Bob Sweeney, Mayor Counts and Bob Shockey and are trying to railroad councilmen, As long as it is against someone who disagrees with the good old boys, it is perfectly acceptable to try their cases in the media, right? Yet if it is against the good old boys, there is a problem? Bring it all out into the … more ›