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Insurance company picking up most bill By DIANE LEWIS Garden City’s insurance company St. Paul Companies, is ponying up the bulk of the city’s part of the settlement with Isabel Banda, a former police department trainee and dispatcher who had sued the city of Garden City and its police department for gender and race discrimination. Of the $46,000 settlement that ends the lawsuit, the insurance company is paying $40,000 and the city $6,000, City Manager Bob Halloran said. The $6,000 payment from the city is coming from a fund containing money the city has received from insurance claims of its own where bids have been lower than expected, Ha]loran said. The bill hasn’t come through to the city yet, as the settlement was just signed Friday. The lawsuit was filed in February. But the issue came up long before the suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita. Banda first complained of discriminatory treatment was in October of 2000, and it prompted an internal investigation that lasted from October 2000 to January 2001. Dave Rebein, Dodge City is the attorney who represented Banda. "Isabel Banda is pleased to settle this case," Rebein said. "A tremendous amount of courage is required to step forward and take on the powers that be. I’m proud to have represented the woman who had the guts to police the police." Banda, who has since moved to Dewey Olda., could not be reached for comment. As a reeult of the investigation into Banda’s complaints, headed by the police department’s professional standards office, two police officers were disciplined and the whole department underwent sexual harassment training. The city won’t release the names of the officers disciplined and what happened to them, citing it as a personnel issue. Halloran said all new officers now receive mandatory sexual-harassment training. "Because of the Banda suit, we instituted some changes in policy regarding sexual discrimination training policy," Halloran said. And no more suits have been filed. Clearly there is increased awareness about inappropriate actions. I would be extremely disappointed if any more lawsuits of this nature were filed." In March 2001, Banda filed a complaint with the Kansas Human Rights Commission. But that complaint was not reviewed within the required time period, prompting a lawsuit in February 2002. But Banda’s lawsuit wasn’t the only controversy for the city in the last couple of years. At the same time Banda’s treatment was being investigated, the city commission stopped a police department reorganization that would have resulted in, among other changes, the demotion of a 20-year veteran of the force from the rank of captain to lieutenant. The city in February 2001 paid Capt. Stan Wojdylak $56,466 in severance pay for his resignation. The reorganization later was approved. As the result of the Wojdylak situation, the city put together a new grievance procedure. Previously an employee with a grievance would take it to his or her department head, then the city manager In Wojdylak’s case, that meant going to the two people who approved the demotion, Police Chief James Hawkins and Halloran. The new policy created an appeals board to hear complaints about personnel issues, including demotions and disciplinary action. Another discrimination lawsuit filed by Kari Stewart-Upchurch against the city and police department is still in the discovery stage, which means it hasn't made it to trial or to mediation. That suit was filed the same time as Banda’s. Stewart-Upchurch sued for gender discrimination, saying she was denied a position with the police department solely based on her sex, despite her experience as a firefighter and emergency medical technician. "There have not been any filed since these were filed," Halloran said. "There’s been a cluster of them filed all at the same time." But that doesn’t mean things are broken, Halloran said. He’d rather see every case that’s filed against the city go to court. "I would like the opportunity to defend our position here," Halloran said, while noting going to a jury is a risk. Much of the discretion of whether the city settles or goes to court rests with the insurance company, Halloran said, based mostly on economics. In the settlement with Banda, the city admits no liability and a section in the agreement reads the reason the city is settling is to avoid further expense from Banda’s claims. In addition to the insurance company’s discretion, mediation is now required in lawsuits like Banda’s, which means every case has to try for settlement first. Rebein also represented Wojdylak and is Stewart-Upchurch’s attorney as well.
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