Insurance Carrier Balks At Lawsuit Over Statue

City Attorney Craig Brown and his staff will have to carry the burden of defending Charlottesville in a lawsuit over its efforts to remove Confederate monuments.

The city's insurance carrier, the Virginia Municipal League, has declined to provide coverage in the legal case that's arisen over the Charlottesville City Council's recent decision to move a statue of Robert E. Lee from a downtown park.

"[T]here are no plans to hire outside counsel," Brown said in an email Thursday.

On Monday evening, moments before the City Council voted 3-2 to sell the statue of the Confederate general, Councilor Bob Fenwick revealed that VML earlier this month said in a letter that it would not cover the city.

"As with many insurance claims, the initial response from VML is they will not cover this cost. But that opinion will be appealed," Fenwick said.

Brown said Thursday that the city has yet to respond to the insurance carrier's April 5 letter.

The insurance company's letter cited several reasons why it denied the city's claim. Among them are exclusions in the policy that do not apply to cases where claims are a consequence of either an alleged willful violation of state, federal or local laws or potential dishonest, criminal or fraudulent acts.

Last month, a group called the Monument Fund - an extension of Friends of C'Ville Monuments - along with several area residents and the Virginia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans filed a lawsuit against the city.

The lawsuit alleges that the council's decision to move the statue and rename and redesign Lee and Jackson parks violates a state law which protects war monuments, as well as the terms of the gift.

Philanthropist Paul Goodloe McIntire donated the land and the statues to the city nearly a century ago.

A statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in the namesake park will stay, but the council unanimously agreed in February to redesign the two parks, and Jackson Park would include a new memorial to residents who were enslaved prior to 1865.

The group suing the city is seeking an injunction against the resolution so that the lawsuit can be resolved before the city takes action.

"It is the entire council's hope ... that the court will not oblige the plaintiff's request to maintain the status quo with regards to adding memorials, signage and changing the names of the parks," Councilor Kathy Galvin said Monday.

Both Galvin and Mayor Mike Signer voted against moving the statue. But they also could bear responsibility for allegedly violating state law by voting to make changes in the two parks.

"Distorting the meaning of the Jackson statue by adding an opposing memorial ... so as to reveal a more complete history of Charlottesville's racist past is exactly what we all want, not the status quo," Galvin said.

Earlier this year, Brown said the VML insurance program covered all of the city's legal costs when Joe Draego, an Albemarle County resident, won a lawsuit regarding the City Council's meeting procedures.

The case resulted in the council abandoning a meetings rule prohibiting "group defamation" after a federal court determined the rule was unconstitutional.

Brown said he's unsure how much the insurance carrier paid in that case.

Brown said the city's insurance premium with VML in the current fiscal year is $717,874.

Commenting during the council meeting Monday, Fenwick refuted several claims the statue's defenders have made in the past year.

Fenwick said he disagrees that the decision over the Lee statue will cost the city a considerable amount of money as it defends against the lawsuit and then works to relocate the statue.

The city has earmarked $1 million for the redesign projects for the two parks. Last year, city officials estimated that moving the Lee statue would cost approximately $330,000.

The resolution the council approved Monday stipulates that whoever purchases the statue will be responsible for paying for its removal and transportation. However, the city could still face hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages if it loses the case.

"I personally will work hard to ensure that the taxpayer will not bear this burden," Fenwick said.