Maine town that fired manager without cause settles lawsuit

RUMFORD, Maine (AP) - A town that fired its manager without documenting cause has settled a lawsuit she brought against it and its selectmen.

Rumford, Maine, fired Linda-Jean Briggs from her position as town manager in January 2019 under a provision in her employment contract. She filed a wrongful termination lawsuit and has settled with the town, the Sun Journal reported on Tuesday.

The town will pay Briggs $250,000, Maria Fox, an attorney for Briggs, told the newspaper.

Briggs had worked as the Rumford town manager since 2017 and signed a three-year contract that included a provision she could be fired without cause if the town paid her six months of her salary, or $41,000.

But she argued in her lawsuit that the provision was not enforceable under Maine law and the town’s own ordinances, and that firing her without reason violated employment protections.

Rumford did not provide evidence in response to a public records request by the Sun Journal of disciplinary action taken against Briggs, but it did send Briggs a check for $40,999 after she was fired. Briggs did not cash the check, the newspaper reported.

In court filings, Rumford said the town and its selectman had “at all times acted in good faith and without knowledge that their conduct violated any clearly established constitutional or statutory rights of the plaintiff.”