A six-figure settlement was proposed last week in U.S. District Court regarding Marion Patricia Paad’s federal lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution and constitutional rights violations on the part of Oxford Village and two of its officials.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, which were read into the court record before Judge George Steeh, the former deputy clerk would be paid $300,000.
Paad was terminated in March 2011 following accusations that she embezzled village funds.
Commenting on the proposed settlement, village attorney Bob Davis said, ‘It’s positive in the sense that we are resolving litigation that arises from a time period where the (village) office practices may not have been at their best.
‘But since then, there has been tremendous effort and tremendous progress in restructuring the office duties and accountabilities as demonstrated (by) our very, very good audit reports over the last two years. There’s your only silver lining.?
The good news for village taxpayers is the entire $300,000 sum will come out of the Michigan Municipal League’s pocket, not the municipality’s budget, according to Davis.
The MML was the village’s insurance carrier during the time frame in which Paad’s claims were set. ‘The village will have complete coverage for the settlement amount,? Davis said.
As part of the proposed settlement, the suit’s claims against village Manager Joe Young and Councilwoman Maureen Helmuth are to be dismissed.
‘Those (parties) are dismissed, so there’s no liability against the individuals,? Davis said. ‘The only remaining defendant will be the village.?
Davis noted the settlement ‘is not binding at this point? because the MML Liability and Property Pool board must vote on the proposed agreement when it meets in December.
‘The case is being stayed until this process takes place,? Davis said.
The settlement’s not a done deal until it’s approved by this board.
‘Barring any major mishap at the MML meeting, this case will get resolved,? Davis said.
Flint attorney Tom Pabst, who’s representing Paad, declined to comment until after the MML board’s decision.
The village council was expected to discuss the proposed settlement during a closed session meeting Oct. 14.
?(The proposed settlement) also has to get approved by the village, which has very little to say, by the way, because of the way the policy’s written,? Davis said. ‘If the carrier wants to settle the case, the carrier can settle the case.?
In December 2012, Paad sued the village, Helmuth and Young for malicious prosecution and retaliating against her for exercising her First Amendment rights.
Paad’s suit contended that ‘throughout her tenure? with the village, she ‘raised concerns? regarding the ‘improper spending/use of taxpayers? money, and/or volunteers stealing taxpayer’s money.? She claims she expressed these concerns to village officials, management and employees
Because she spoke up, Paad’s suit alleged she found herself facing ‘false and baseless? charges of embezzlement that ‘were made to try to cover up (the) defendants? unlawful conduct.?
Paad was accused of stealing more than $3,300 in property tax payments from three village residents in 2006. She was also charged with embezzling almost $600 worth of village police department funds in 2010.
In April 2012, an Oakland County Circuit Court jury found Paad not guilty of five felony counts of embezzlement by a public official.
In a June 18 story, Pabst accused Young and Helmuth of concocting this ‘phoney-baloney story? about Paad being an embezzler.
‘They scapegoated Pat Paad and threw her under the bus to misdirect attention away from someone else who took the money,? said Pabst in that story.
In June 2012, the village council hired a forensic auditor to conduct an investigation and he determined that $20,684 in property tax funds from 2010 are missing. The auditor’s June 2013 report named Paad as ‘a person of interest? with regard to the missing money.
In his report, the auditor noted his comments about Paad ‘do not imply guilt or criminal intent? on the part of the former village employee.