Attorneys for the City of Neosho are claiming sovereign immunity in the early volleys of a federal court battle with fired city manager Jan Blase.
Within an Aug. 18 legal response to a civil lawsuit filed by Blase against the city in July, legal counsel for Neosho assert a doctrine found in state law that, in most cases, public entities in Missouri cannot be sued. A court waiver of this right was not requested in the lawsuit. The case was removed to United States District Court-Western District of Missouri earlier this month, as Constitutional issues are involved.
Blase is claiming denial of his due process rights, wrongful termination and contractual violations. He seeks from the city lost wages, back pay, front pay, lost benefits for one year, severance pay for nine months and compensatory damages “in an appropriate amount” for an alleged violation of his Constitutional rights and for his “pain, suffering, emotional distress, damage to reputation and humiliation” among other relief.
Blase is being represented by Joplin attorney Daniel Whitworth.
In its documented response, Neosho's legal counsel, Patricia Keck and Jason Coatney of Springfield law firm Keck & Austin, claims the city is entitled to sovereign immunity as set forth in Missouri law.
The doctrine of sovereign immunity dates back to English common law and basically asserts that the state cannot be charged with criminal or civil wrongdoing. Section 537.600 of the Missouri Revised Statutes holds that public entities have legal immunity, except in specified cases of injuries cause by negligence.
However, Blase is also seeking punitive damages from several individuals named as defendants in the lawsuit. These include all the city councilmembers who voted to fire him, as well as city attorney Steve Hays. The city’s attorneys have motioned, though, to swap out as defendants former council members Jeff Werneke and Warren Langland for current councilmen Tom Workman and Chris Wright.
The lawsuit claims the defendants’ actions in firing him were “arbitrary and impulsive without rational basis.” The response filed Aug. 18 by the city's attorneys deny all allegations.
Blase was fired as city manager in February. This was after his admission a few months earlier that he had borrowed from restricted accounts to pay city bills and make payroll, as the general revenue fund and reserves were both depleted. In December Blase was officially reprimanded by the city council for mismanagement of finances and in late January the council voted to begin the process of removing him from office. Blase was officially terminated one month later.
