Champaign’s 6-year lawsuit settlement total close to $1 million

Feb. 01--CHAMPAIGN -- If the city council approves a $70,000 payout in the Kisica Seets case Tuesday, Champaign will have spent $1.035 million settling seven excessive-force complaints against police since 2010, the most in downstate Illinois.

The number of use-of-force or civil-rights complaints that led to settlements, however, is not out of line with other similar-sized cities in Illinois, according to data compiled by The News-Gazette via open-records requests.

Decatur settled eight cases in that same span, at a cost of $344,000. Peoria spent $331,900 on six cases but settled another six for $759,700, on issues ranging from an illegal search of a home to employment environment.

In addition to its four excessive-force payouts, Springfield settled five automobile-accident cases ($448,000) and another for destroying public records ($102,000).

"There are a lot of other things that people get sued about that we haven't been," said Champaign City Attorney Fred Stavins.

Stavins oversees Champaign's legal department, and while the city hires outside counsel to handle lawsuits, he advises the council on whether to settle cases.

"It's a financial decision," he said, one that takes into account the cost of further litigation, as well as staff hours and the attorney fees of the other side.

In the settlement to be considered Tuesday -- the third in two months stemming from an excessive-force complaint against Champaign police Officer Matt Rush -- just $25,100 of the $70,000 will go directly to Seets, the plaintiff, with the rest covering her attorney fees.

That's not unusual, said Louis Meyer, an attorney who has reached multiple excessive-force settlements with Champaign, including the Dec. 1 settlement of $25,000 with William Brown, the first of the Rush-related cases.

In order to cap mounting attorney fees, a city can make an offer of judgment in which it does not admit liability. That's what it did with Seets, offering her $25,100, plus "reasonable" attorney fees.

Sometimes, this is easier for both sides because "they don't have to prove anything, they can just chose to accept it," Stavins said.

The costs of a lawsuit are more than just the price of the settlement, however, Meyer said.

In addition to paying for outside counsel, which is covered by the insurance company when the city chooses to settle, Champaign must pay its officers to be deposed, which often accumulates as overtime. City staff also spends time working on the case, when it would otherwise be conducting normal business.

Still, the city must balance those costs with what is right.

"You have to fight if it's a case with no merit," Meyer said. "You can't just settle everything or else people will be fighting stuff all the time. That's why you need a good adviser."

Stavins said it's important for the public to know that settlements are often the best course of action for both sides.

"It seems like the public automatically assumes that the police officer admits in every case that there's malfeasance, even in an automobile accident," he said. "It's hard to infer or imply that there is an admission of wrongdoing -- usually, people have something in settlement that specifically contradicts that perception.

"When you have a settlement of a case, that's actually what it is -- a settlement."

In addition to reaching deals with the three Rush accusers -- Seets, Brown and Benjamin Mann ($225,000) -- the city's four other settlements this decade were with William Hawkins ($150,001 in 2014), Gary McFarland ($50,000 in 2012), Brandon Ward ($45,000 in 2012) and the family of Kiwane Carrington ($470,000 in 2010 over a wrongful-death suit).

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