A lawsuit alleging Denver City Auditor Dennis Gallagher fired three employees for political reasons was dismissed this week after two years of legal battles.
U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch ruled Wednesday that Gallagher went through the proper channels when he removed former administration and human resources director Barbara Neil, information-technology director Les Berry and finance and accounting director Tom Wulf.
The ruling removes an issue that has hung over Gallagher’s office since shortly after he took office in 2003.
“Certainly the auditor is pleased that the judge ruled the way he did,” Gallagher’s spokesman, Denis Berckefeldt, said Thursday. “We felt all along that there was no basis for the lawsuit.”
Neil, Wulf and Berry filed suit in early 2005 contending that they lost their jobs because of their connections to Gallagher’s predecessor, Don Mares. The three of them had a combined 59 years of experience in the office.
They said Gallagher and the city violated their free speech and free assembly rights by forcing them out because of their support of Mares.
Mares ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2003, and the three were among his supporters. Their case against Gallagher spelled out a Hatfield-and-McCoy-like dispute in northwest Denver politics, with Gallagher and his lieutenant, Dawn Sulley, on one side and Mares on the other.
But Gallagher denied the allegations and said he was attempting to restructure what he viewed as a “top heavy” office.
In his ruling, Matsch noted Gallagher’s office consulted with Career Service Authority, the city’s human resources office, to make sure the auditor had the authority to lay off or demote the employees. And he pointed out that layoffs or demotions were part of an overall strategy Gallagher had to revamp the office.
“The evidence does not support the conclusion that it was the plantiffs’ political support of or affiliation with Mares which resulted in their layoffs,” he wrote. “Even more persuasively,” he added, Gallagher appointees R.D. Sewald and Denis Berckefeldt, “openly supported the Mares for Mayor campaign.”
Matsch also ruled that the three former employees will have to pay the city’s costs – roughly $4,400. But he refused to force the plaintiffs to pay the city’s legal fees.
Wulf, Neil, Berry or their attorneys could not be reached for comment.
Gallagher is seeking re- election in May.
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
