A Louisiana appeals court has sided with a former Lafourche Parish president in his lawsuit seeking more than $180,000 in back pay, effectively ending a three-year-old legal dispute.
The First Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the opinion of a district court that ruled in favor of James Cantrelle, who took office as parish president on Jan. 1, 2016, and served through the end of 2019. Cantrelle argued that the ordinance defining the parish president’s pay called for him to receive the average compensation of the sheriff, clerk of court and assessor – and that “compensation” included all supplemental pay or benefits.
Parish officials appealed the district court’s decision, contending that the parish president’s compensation was an average of the three positions’ base pay only. The appeals court’s Feb. 1 opinion affirmed that Cantrelle was owed a total of $181,238 in back pay, along with interest on those funds. Appeals court costs of more than $2,200 were assessed against the parish.
Joe Soignet, the parish’s assistant district attorney, said the local council had examined its options and that Lafourche Parish would not appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
“Because the parish council has already amended the ordinance to clarify how the compensation owed to the parish president is to be calculated, the problem going forward has been resolved,” Soignet told the Louisiana Record in an email.
In the intervening years since Cantrelle took office, the parish clarified the way the president’s compensation is calculated.
“The salary of the parish president (is) established based on the prior-year-average base salary of the parish-wide positions of the parish sheriff, clerk of court and the assessor,” starting with the term of office beginning in 2020, the parish ordinance now states.
The current parish president, Archie Chaisson, appealed the district court’s ruling to the First District Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge. The appeals court affirmed the lower court’s decision based on the “plain language of the (previous) ordinance” defining compensation.