Politics makes strange bedfellows, as the adage goes. On occasion, so do lawsuits.
In a recent motion to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit filed last summer in Baton Rouge federal court against Alvin Fairburn & Associates and others involved in the Hurricane Gustav debris cleanup in Livingston Parish, AFA takes the unusual stand of siding philosophically with the parish council—and against the engineering firm’s own former office manager, Parish President Layton Ricks.
At issue is the fact that just days after taking office, Ricks stopped payment on a $379,517 check to Corey Delahoussaye’s firm, C-Del. That was also around the same time that Ricks issued a $453,000 check to AFA. Neither of those actions was approved by the council.
In a curious twist, AFA argues in its motion that Ricks exceeded his authority in stopping the payment to C-Del, although no mention is made of the subsequent check issued to AFA.
“Public record reflects that the council exercised its authority to issue payment to C-Del on two occasions—first by ordinance in passing the annual budget; second, by passing a resolution ordering tender of the check to C-Del,” writes attorney Brad Rhorer. “Ricks was outside the scope of his authority in stopping payment on the check, and remained outside the scope of his authority in refusing to reissue the check in the face of a council resolution to pay C-Del.”
AFA is disputing the existence of a conspiracy as defined in the federal whistleblower statute by alleging Ricks was not acting in his official capacity. The firm also argues in a cross claim last week that its contract with Livingston Parish included an indemnity agreement protecting the firm against any lawsuits related to the debris cleanup. To read more about the whistleblower case, click here.
