Local News
No settlement from Rowan mediation conference
Marc Valero | Highlands Today
Published: January 23, 2013
AVON PARK - The Mike Rowan lawsuit against the City of Avon Park continues on track for a jury trial after a mediation conference failed to result in a settlement between the two parties.Published: January 23, 2013
Avon Park labor attorney Brian Koji said the mediation conference was not successful so it looks like it will be going to trial.
Did the city offer Rowan a settlement?
Koji said according to court rules he cannot divulge any information from the mediation conference.
There is a trial date set in April, but he has notified the court of a potential conflict with the date, but the court has yet to act on it, Koji said.
The scheduled trial date is April 8.
Former police chief Rowan filed suit against the city on June 16, 2011 after City Manager Julian Deleon suspended him with pay on April 19, 2011 then suspended him without pay in June after it came to light that Rowan had investigated Mayor Sharon Schuler, Deputy Mayor Brenda Gray, City Project Manager Maria Sutherland and her husband, Councilman Parke Sutherland, for alleged illegal activities.
On Oct. 19, 2011, Deleon fired Rowan, citing a Sept. 6, 2011 letter in which Deleon noted that State Attorney Jerry Hill reported that Rowan could no longer be used by his office to prosecute criminal cases due to his lack of credibility and Rowan is no longer able to perform the essential functions of his job as a law enforcement officer.
Rowan's attorney, Robert Grizzard II, filed a "Third Amended Complaint," on Jan. 3, which asserts that Rowan's suspension and termination were motivated by his referral of several allegations against city council members to the office of the State's Attorney for the Tenth Judicial Circuit.
mvalero@highlandstoday.com (863) 386-5826