Court settlement to raise DeFuniak’s insurance premiums

Feb. 02--DeFUNIAK SPRINGS -- The city will be shelling out more for insurance after a nearly $300,000 settlement of a lawsuit filed against its two highest ranking police officers.

A lawsuit filed in federal court in 2016 by former DeFuniak Springs Police Department Capt. David Krika alleged that his First Amendment rights to free speech were violated by City Marshall Mark Weeks and Capt. Michael Lolley.

Krika maintained in the lawsuit that he had been terminated after taking information he had gathered about possible illegal activity on the part of a city manager candidate to the FBI, then continued to communicate with a federal agent after being ordered to stop.

In May 2018 after U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson ruled that Krika's case against Weeks and Lolley had merit but dropped the city as a co-defendant, a settlement was reached and Krika received $200,000. He also obtained attorneys fees totaling more than $98,000.

Clayton Adkinson, the city's attorney, sent an email in late January to the Florida League of Cities, through which DeFuniak Springs is insured, to ask about the potential impact of Krika's settlement on upcoming premiums.

"Yes, the premium will most likely go up because that settlement will drive up the total claims dollars paid, which in turn drives up that factor," League of Cities Account Executive Tom Conley told Adkinson in a return email.

The League could not provide a precise estimate of how much the premiums will increase, but assured city officials that it will do what it can to spread the amount over a number of years, DeFuniak Springs City Manager Mell Smigielski said.

Smigielski notified Mayor Bob Campbell and members of the DeFuniak Springs City Council of the imminent increase in insurance costs in a Thursday email.

Krika's victory in the legal action against the police administration is the second recent termination imposed by Weeks that has backfired.

In June 2017 Labor Arbitrator Jeanne Charles Wood ordered the Police Department to reinstate officers Anthony Kaiser and Rick Boblitt after finding their firings to be "beyond the bounds of reasonableness."

Woods raised questions in her ruling about the "disparate treatment in the manner in which discipline has been meted out" by Weeks.

Neither Weeks nor Lolley responded to a request for comment.

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