James v. City of Apalachicola dismissed

City Attorney Pat Floyd reported at the Sept 8 meeting, that the case of Steve James v. City of Apalachicola had been resolved during depositions held in late August.

James, a captain with the Apalachicola police department filed a claim against the city soon after Bobby Varnes was appointed to replace retired police chief Anderson Williams.

In his complaint, James contended that city officials violated the whistleblower protection act by denying him the chief’s position when Williams retired.

He claimed that because he went over Williams head with matters pertaining to arrest procedures to then Mayor Boyd “Sandy” Howze, Williams retaliated against him by not recommending him as his replacement.

However, Floyd told commissioners that following the deposition of several key city officials and the information that came forth during the proceedings, James decided to withdraw his claim altogether against the city.

Floyd then reported on the Williams workers compensation case.

Floyd told commissioners that the courts have rescheduled a hearing in the Anderson Williams worker compensation case for the end of this month. The hearing is set to compel Williams to accept the initial settlement offered by the city and agreed upon by both parties.

City commissioners had agreed earlier to settle with Williams on his workers compensation claim with both Williams and his attorney agreeing to the settlement in writing. However, Williams changed his mind, fired his attorney, and backed out of the agreement.

“We have a confirmation from our attorney that’s working with us on the workers comp case, and he stated that this should be affirmed by the Judge because we have written statements that the initial settlement had been accepted by Andy in resolving this matter”, Floyd said.