Lawsuit over NLV firing is rejected

Tuesday, May 23, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

North Las Vegas has won in court - but lost in the pocketbook - over its right to fire its former city manager.

District Judge Jackie Glass dismissed Kurt Fritsch's lawsuit alleging that the City Council violated the state open meeting law, the city charter, due process and his contract when it fired him in July 2003.

Glass' ruling to dismiss the case, which was scheduled to go to trial on Monday, comes more than two years after Glass denied a similar motion by North Las Vegas.

Since the case began, the city has spent about $271,000 on an outside law firm, surpassing the roughly $225,000 in back pay that Fritsch sought from the city.

City Attorney Sean McGowan said the city chose to fight the case rather than settle it because city leaders regarded it as an illegitimate claim that, if settled, might prompt others to file lawsuits, he said.

"The city would rather pay defense lawyers than meritless claims even if it costs more," McGowan said.

But North Las Vegas will not bear the case's entire cost. Glass ruled that Fritsch must pay for the city's court costs, expected to be about $10,000.

Fritsch's attorney Adam Levine said Monday he would appeal Glass' ruling to the state Supreme Court.

In his lawsuit, Fritsch alleged that North Las Vegas leaders violated the state's open meeting laws in their decision to terminate him and determine the amount of severance paid.

He claimed that his firing was decided prior to the July 16, 2003, council meeting, with McGowan coordinating and achieving that result by holding numerous meetings with individual council members.

The council fired Fritsch, who earned about $150,000 annually and had two years left on his contract, without any discussion or explanation. The city paid him a severance of about $127,000 - six months' pay plus unused vacation and sick time.

In her ruling, Glass said Fritsch's contract specified that he could be fired at any time without cause and given six-months' severance.

As for the allegation that the open meeting law had been violated, Glass said the public notice for the July 2003 meeting noted that the council planned to discuss and take possible action on the city manager's contract. That was sufficient, especially given that Fritsch approved the agenda item, the judge said.

"It took a lot of time and money to get to what clearly is the right result," said attorney Greg Smith, who represented the city. "I'm disappointed we didn't win that motion to dismiss the case 2 1/2 years ago."

In August, Fritsch's case received a temporary boost when court Discovery Commissioner Thomas Biggar recommended that council members be compelled to testify about their conversations with McGowan prior to firing the city manager. That testimony, Biggar said, would help determine whether open meeting laws had been violated.