Furstenau, Naperville still at odds over lawsuit settlement

More than a month after Naperville announced Councilman Richard Furstenau was dropping his lawsuit against the city, the two sides still are battling over terms of the settlement.

Both Naperville and Furstenau filed new motions in federal court this week asking a judge to enforce their version of the agreement.

At issue is whether city councilmen will be allowed to discuss the settlement publicly.

Furstenau is suing the city over a 2006 incident in which he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery after being accused of shoving police officer Mike Hull before a holiday parade.

He later was acquitted but the city denied his request for an apology, discipline of the police officers involved and $129,529 to cover his legal fees and repay contributors to his failed state Senate campaign.

In October 2007, Furstenau filed a federal lawsuit against the city and three police officers saying the arrest was retaliatory. He later added former City Manager Peter Burchard, police union President Joe Matchett and city attorney Margo Ely to the suit.

A federal judge has since dismissed the claims against Naperville, Burchard, Ely and Matchett.

Last month, the sides announced they would settle the case and the city and other defendants would not try to recoup an estimated $1 million in legal fees. They agreed to release a mutual statement on behalf of the parties and not comment further on the case.

But their interpretation of who that agreement applies to seems to differ.

In a new motion filed Thursday, Terrence Sheahan, an attorney for the city, said Furstenau presented new settlement terms weeks after the tentative agreement had been reached that would prevent city councilmen from publicly discussing the case. Sheahan does not consider the councilmen to be party to the lawsuit, according to the documents.

"Given that the subject matter of this lawsuit has been a major issue to the Naperville community for well over the past year and a half and has cost the taxpayers of Naperville over $1 million to defend, this new demand by Furstenau for a gag order of nonparty public officials was ... steadfastly rejected," Sheahan wrote in his motion.

When contacted by phone Thursday, Sheahan did not want to comment on the issue beyond what was already in the court documents.

But Robert Cummins, an attorney for Furstenau, said the agreement hasn't changed and the intention was always that it would not just apply to select city officials. He said the word "gag" is inappropriate.

"My understanding is this has been a hotly contested and controversial litigation," Cummins said. "It does not serve the interest of the city of Naperville for people to be touting their own view on who won or lost or who was one up or one down. That just perpetuates the same silliness over arm wrestling of the same position."

Due to the breakdown of the settlement agreement, Sheahan also filed a motion earlier this week asking the court to proceed with scheduling a mental exam of Furstenau as originally planned. But Sheahan said Thursday he now believes the case will reach a final settlement without that.

The case will be back in federal court this morning.