DULUTH — Legal bills are likely to take a big bite out of the city’s budget this year.
The Duluth City Council is poised on Monday to authorize up to $880,000 in spending on just two outstanding suits brought against the city, including a high-stakes class-action case challenging local stormwater fees.
Police complaint
Councilors will be asked to approve the lesser of the expenditures to resolve a civil suit filed on behalf of a man roughed up by local police more than six years ago.
The city attorney’s office recommends passage of a proposed $90,000 settlement to be paid to Brandon Houle in light of an incident that occurred at about 10:30 p.m. May 20, 2017. Houle, who was homeless and intoxicated when confronted by police in the skywalk next to the Tech Village parking ramp, was told to leave or face trespassing charges.
He refused and was handcuffed. Then, Houle went limp and fell to the floor in an apparent act of resistance.
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“I ain’t going to make it easy for you guys,” Houle reportedly told officers.
Officer body camera video showed officer Adam Huot dragging Houle by the handcuffs through the skywalk, and through a doorway where the suspect’s head violently struck a door frame.
In Houle’s civil suit, the complaint says he suffered a traumatic brain injury, as well as injuries to his wrists, requiring emergency room treatment.
The police department attempted to terminate Huot’s employment following the incident, which came on the heels of six previously substantiated complaints against the officer since he joined the force in February 2008.
The police union grieved Huot’s dismissal and prevailed in arbitration, where the city was ordered to reinstate him following a 13-month unpaid disciplinary suspension.
Huot has since rejoined the police department and returned to active patrol duty in December 2021. While his employment case was being litigated, Huot went back to school, earning a master’s degree in social work from the College of St. Scholastica.
Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken described Huot’s treatment of Houle as “unacceptable” and a betrayal of the community’s trust of law enforcement.
But in reinstating him as a patrol officer more than four years later, Tusken said the decision was based on his “observations of Officer Huot’s personal and professional growth aligning with our department’s values, core beliefs and mission.”
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Houle filed suit against Huot, the city and two other Duluth police officers who were on the scene the evening of his injury: Morgan Cekalla and Beau Hughes.
Under the terms of the pending settlement, Houle would dismiss all claims against the city and the involved police officers. The settlement agreement says it constitutes “no admission of liability or wrongdoing.”
Huot previously issued a statement:
“I think it’s important to acknowledge that what happened in May 2017 is my own failure. I didn’t show up to work that day and give the city of Duluth, the community and my Duluth Police partners the best version of myself. I did not give Mr. Houle the patience or empathy he deserved, and I failed to see the impact of my actions prior to my split-second decision.”
Stormwater fees
The larger of the legal cases city councilors will discuss Monday involves a class-action suit initially mounted by a couple local businesses: Moline Manufacturing LLC and Glass Merchant Inc., doing business as Walsh Windows.
Both plaintiffs take issue with the fees they are charged for stormwater runoff from their commercial properties, alleging that the current rate system is riddled with inconsistencies that force certain property owners to shoulder an unfair share of the cost to maintain the city’s storm sewer infrastructure.
The case was filed in September 2021. In August 2023, Judge Eric Hylden determined that the plaintiff pool could be considerably broadened when he agreed to certify the matter as a class-action suit.
Shawn Raiter, an attorney representing Moline and Walsh, estimated that more than 1,500 owners of non-residential properties could be due refunds dating back to 2015.
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The city has hired outside counsel to represent it in the case at considerable expense. On Monday, the City Council will be asked to authorize spending up to another $250,000 with Greene Espel PLPP, a Minneapolis-based law firm, bringing the total legal bill for the case to as much as $710,000.
Additionally, councilors will be asked to approve up to an $80,000 contract with HKA Global LLC for accounting services in support of the city’s defense in the stormwater case.
Duluth is self-insured and will draw from reserves to cover its recent legal costs, said City Public Information Officer Kelli Latuska.
The city faces yet another potentially costly lawsuit recently filed involving police officer Tyler Leibfried, who shot and injured Jared Pyle, 26, through a closed door at the Kingsley Heights Apartments on Sept. 12, 2020. Leibfried was responding to a report of a domestic disturbance when he was startled by two loud bangs that emanated from the apartment unit and were mistaken for gunshots, prompting him to return fire.
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