City of Willard Settled a Discrimination Lawsuit Brought by Former City Clerk

The Willard Files - No. 2

In December of 2019, after nearly three years of litigation, the City of Willard paid $120,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by Dale Duvall, the former city clerk and one-time Willard alderman.

Duvall asserted claims of discrimination and retaliation in complaints to the Missouri Human Rights Commission (MHRC) and the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) in November of 2015. An earlier discrimination claim filed by Duvall in November of 2013 is also mentioned in the settlement agreement. (The type of alleged discrimination is not identified.)

Duvall’s lawsuit was filed in February of 2017 and dismissed in January of 2020 after the signing of the settlement agreement.

Named as defendants in the February 2017 discrimination lawsuit were the City of Willard, along with current aldermen Sam Baird and Larry Whitman, and former aldermen Michael Barr, Jamie Buckley, Paul Hood, and Don Lee. The city’s then mayor, Corey Hendrickson, was not listed as a defendant.

Ms. Duvall was elected to a two-year term as Ward 3 alderman on April 7, 2009, and also served as an alderman prior to 2009. She was employed by the City of Willard as city clerk for six-and-a-half years from April of 2009 to December of 2015.

Under the terms of the agreement, the city and aforementioned aldermen denied the allegations and made no admission of any wrongdoing or violation of any law, and Duvall dismissed her claims against all defendants, releasing them from any further claims and waiving her right to any future employment with the City of Willard.

The City of Willard and its liability insurance company paid the $120,000 settlement.

Duvall received $55,332 and a W-2 payment in the amount of $10,000. Kirksey Law Firm, LLC of Bolivar received $54,667.

Kirksey Law Firm also represented the plaintiff in the recent $90,000 settlement of a sexual assault/failure to report lawsuit against the Willard R-II School District.

The firm has litigated a number of lawsuits related to workplace conduct and public schools. For example, this $450,000 settlement of a lawsuit in the Seymour R-II School District and this $500,000 settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit in the Reed Springs School District. The firm also represented a plaintiff in the case of the masturbating janitor in the Camdenton R-III School District.

A final word

I obtained the settlement agreement earlier this month through a Sunshine Law request. There is a confidentiality clause within the settlement agreement, but it cannot prevent the public release of the document under Missouri’s Sunshine Law. Though the document is several years old, it is still relevant as the amount of the settlement, nor the settlement itself were ever disclosed to the public.

I am strongly opposed to a number of the provisions within this particular settlement agreement. These provisions — including the confidentiality clause — have no proper place within a legal document from what should be a transparent government body. For further explanation of the problems with these provisions, please see here.