By Joanna Miller, Correspondent
The timeline for an advisory opinion that could make public some employment information related to Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board Member Chris Lind has been pushed back.
The request relates to the notice of claim letter sent by Lind’s attorney David Thompson to the district on Dec. 19, 2007 seeking mediation relating to a monetary settlement for Lind’s termination from employment as a Prior Lake High School campus supervisor last June.Currently, the letter is not public information; it is labeled private personnel data.
The School Board terminated Lind in June of 2007 at the recommendation of Superintendent Tom Westerhaus. According to the district, Lind was fired after making a comment about a student's sexual orientation, which occurred after he had been given previous warnings about his interaction with students.
Lind then filed to run as a candidate for School Board and was elected in November. Westerhaus resigned shortly thereafter, saying he could not work for a person he had fired.
Lind was sworn in on Jan. 14, and to date has declined to open his personnel file to the public or to comment in more detail on his termination.
Should Lind move forward and sue the board for wrongful termination, it could be the first case of its kind in Minnesota.
The request to make the information public was due back April 2 from the Commissioner of Administration. But now, the public will have to wait a little longer for a decision.
The commissioner asked for an extension due to the “volume and complexity of opinions being processed.” Due to the extension, allowed under Minnesota statute, the final opinion date is now on or before May 2.
School District 719 attorney Jennifer Earley of Knutson, Flynn & Deans received a letter April 1 from the Minnesota Department of Administration stating that the commissioner will take up to 30 additional days to issue the opinion.
A long process
The original request for an advisory opinion was submitted in mid-January, shortly after six members of the Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board voted against mediation with Lind on Jan. 14. Lind abstained from the vote.
On Jan. 16, the Prior Lake American supported the district’s request and asked for a speedy decision from the Department of Administration to release the notice of claim letter’s contents.
Typically, an advisory opinion must be issued within 20 days of when the request is received; however, for “good cause,” the commissioner is allowed to extend that timeline.
The opinion request process has dragged on because the commissioner required supplementary information before the 20-day timeline began.
An advisory opinion stating that the information is public would allow the school district to provide the public with the letter’s contents without risking liability.
A government entity that conforms with an advisory opinion is not liable for compensatory or exemplary damages, awards of attorneys fees or penalties.
Should Lind proceed with a lawsuit, those legal documents will become public without the opinion.
Thompson, the attorney for Lind, did not respond to the newspaper’s request for an update on a possible lawsuit by press time.
Joanna Miller can be reached at jmiller@swpub.com.