COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The case management order has been scheduled in the federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a former employee of the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities against the utility, the City of Coldwater and CBPU Director Paul Jakubczak.
According to the web site pacermonitor.com, Jodi Shook Beckhusen filed the employment discrimination complaint in early January which was about 14 months after she was terminated as the Customer Service Manager for the CBPU..
A number of motions and conferences will have to take place before the case would ever get to a jury trial which Judge Paul Maloney scheduled for June 23, 2025 in the U.S. District Court in Kalamazoo.
Grand Rapids Attorney Lee T. Silver was appointed as a mediator in hopes the lawsuit can be settled before it gets to trial.
Lawyers for the two sides have until October 1 to complete discovery. A settlement conference was scheduled for May 8, 2025 with a final pre-trial conference on June 2, 2025.
The CBPU Board of Directors held an executive session on November 2, 2022 that lasted for almost an hour and 20 minutes concerning what was called a work place complaint from Beckhusen. The closed session was not on the original agenda but was requested by Jakubczak.
After coming out of the closed session, the board voted that the matter be brought to a close.
Our city “leaders” don’t care about rights for anyone but themselves. I know first hand.