MONROE – The former city attorney for Minden who resigned, then sued, has lost the appeal of his lawsuit.
Louis Minifield’s term was supposed to take him from January 2019 to the end of 22, but on May 6, 2020, he told Mayor Terry Gardner that he would be retiring at the end of that month.
Gardner accepted his resignation and notified the Municipal Employees Retirement System. He called seven city council meetings that each would discuss replacing the city attorney, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic and a political boycott by one of the council members, none of them had a quorum present.
So Gardner on May 21 – nine days before Minifield’s resignation date - suspended city ordinance that required the council to elect the city attorney. On May 27, he named Jimmy Yocom the new city attorney.
Minifield changed his mind while Gardner was replacing him. He told MERS that he was withdrawing his application for retirement and faxed a copy to Gardner on May 28 – after he had named Yocom the new city attorney.
MERS refused to reinstate Minifield’s contributions and accrual of benefits. He sued Gardner and the City of Minden for a declaratory judgment annulling his resignation and the appointment of the new city attorney, as well as damages and attorneys fees.
Webster Parish District Court R. Lane Pittard rejected his arguments, as did the Second Circuit Court of Appeal in an Aug. 10 decision.
“(T)he Emergency Response Statute, La. R.S. 29:737, confers special powers when the chief executive officer of the municipality determines that a situation has developed requiring immediate action to, among other things, provide for the continued operation of the municipal government,” the Second Circuit wrote.
“Owing to COVID-19, the governor declared a public health emergency on March 11, 2020, which was expanded to a stay-at-home order on March 22; this was in force when the events in this case occurred, until the entry of ‘Phase One’ (very limited) reopening on May 15.
“In short, a state of emergency existed, and Minifield has made no showing that the acceptance of his resignation, and the appointment of a new city attorney, were not necessary for the continued operation of the city or that Mayor Gardner failed to notify the parish president of the measures being taken.”