Federal Judge Lawrence Zatkoff ordered the 9 members of the Detroit City Council to appear before him to explain why it has taken so long to pay a settlement to two men who claim they were groped and assaulted by two Detroit police officers. In March of 2011, officials at the City of Detroit agreed to settle this case for $50,000, though no formal action has been taken yet to pay the men their award.
Judge Zatkoff ordered the City Council to his courtroom so they could explain what Zatkoff says is “deliberate indifference” regarding the payment of this settlement. The judge granted a short adjournment of the hearing to give the city more time to get the case resolved. Judge Zatkoff’s courtroom is in Port Huron, Michigan.
Why Final Settlements Are So Important
As Michigan attorneys, we know how important it is for our clients to be able to rely on final settlements. It is not fair that cities like Detroit say they will pay for misconduct damages that were caused by their police officers, but then wait an unreasonable amount of time to follow through with that agreement. This is not the first time Detroit, Michigan officials have unreasonably delayed payment in a court case. Earlier this year, a judge in another case ordered the City of Detroit to pay around $20,000 in fines on top of a $25,000 settlement because the delay on payment to the plaintiff was too long.
The attorneys at The Kronzek Firm commend Judge Zatkoff for his tough stance in this case. Like everyone else, police officers sometimes make mistakes or behave poorly, and we think they should be held accountable for their actions.