Judge: No immediate settlement talks in former council member's lawsuit against Rochester
"I expect the parties know better than I do when they want to try to settle their case, so I'm not going to order you to come to a settlement conference only to tell me you are not ready to settle the case," U.S. Federal Court Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko told the attorneys Thursday during a 20-minute pretrial hearing related to former city council member Molly Dennis' discrimination lawsuit against the city and Mayor Kim Norton.
In an order following the hearing, Micko states he reserves the right to call for a settlement conference at a future date, and established July 23, 2026, as the the date attorneys should be ready for what's expected to be a four-day trial, if no settlement is reached.
Dennis initiated the lawsuit in early 2024, less than a year after her March 6, 2023, censure by City Council peers. In her lawsuit, Dennis alleges the city denied her access to public services required under federal and state laws pertaining to people with disabilities.
Additionally, Dennis alleges the city and Norton retaliated against her after she lodged complaints and sought accommodations related to her attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder disability.
Attorneys representing the city say that accommodations for Dennis' disability were made, and the censure and other actions taken by the City Council were in response to complaints about Dennis' actions against elected officials and staff, not her disability.
While Micko said he doesn't plan to order a settlement conference at this point, he will call the attorneys together on July 1 for an informal, off-the-record update.
"I use those as an opportunity to check in on how our litigation is progressing and also to talk to the parties a little bit more frankly and openly about whether there have been steps to resolve the case," he said of the planned closed conference.
Paul Ostrow, whom Dennis hired in April after she represented herself for more than a year, said he's still getting get up to speed in the case, but Dennis "is interested in bringing this matter either to trial or settlement on an expeditious basis."
Farah Famouri of the Minneapolis-based Greene Espel law firm, which is representing the city, voiced agreement with the judge's plan.
In addition to setting a schedule for the trial and related deadlines, the hearing and following order set anticipated limits on how many dispositions and documents the attorneys are expected to request as the case moves forward.
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