Four days later, the village’s special counsel Mike McNamee, who was appointed in February to lead an internal investigation and to represent the municipality’s interests throughout, sent an emailed letter to Lieberman in response to the court action.
In the letter, which was obtained by the newspaper, McNamee argues in condescending language that Madden’s contract was void, Lieberman’s filing on her behalf was frivolous, that Lieberman had not engaged “in the most basic due diligence” and that if Lieberman did not dismiss the filing by the end of April 5, the village would file a motion for sanctions against Lieberman and Madden.
In a presentation to council last month, McNamee outlined initial findings of his investigation and reasons for Madden’s firing, which he said included failure to comply with her contract renegotiation timeframe, self-dealing tactics, wrongful payments, violations of Sunshine Laws and failure to post job openings.
He has said since that his full findings and “reasons for the for-cause determinations” that led to the firing of Madden, along with village employees Curtis Hensley, Scott Brock, and Phil Hinson, and Law Director Ronald Keener, will be disclosed to the public once his investigation, and that of the state auditor’s office, wraps up.
In his letter to Lieberman, McNamee references Ohio’s Rules of Civil Procedures, which govern civil action, and further insinuates Lieberman’s official support of the filing as his client’s counsel may not withstand legal scrutiny within those guidelines.
Lieberman responded to the letter in a statement to this newspaper Thursday afternoon.
“... (I)t is rare that a lawyer will attempt to bully you into submission just because you file an action against his client,” Lieberman wrote. “We filed the action in good faith, and plan to ignore (McNamee’s) rant about my client or myself. I have been practicing law for a long time and have found that lawyers who threaten you with sanctions in this manner do so because they are insecure in their positions.”
Lieberman said he does not plan to comment further on the letter.
“... (I)t is not my intention to try this very serious case in the press, as Mr. McNamee clearly wishes to do,” he wrote.
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