Ex-officer and city reach settlement

A former Whitefish police officer has reached a settlement agreement with the city of Whitefish in a dispute over his dismissal from the department in 2013.

Jeffrey R. Folsom filed a lawsuit in Flathead County District Court against the city last year claiming he was dismissed without just cause.

Folsom also sued the Montana Public Employees’ Association, claiming the union did not provide fair representation following his dismissal.

He sought recovery of lost and prospective wages and benefits totaling $758,803.

A proposed settlement was reached last week, according to City Attorney Mary VanBuskirk. The details of that settlement won’t be known until it is signed by both parties.

Folsom was hired as a Whitefish officer in 2005.

In his complaint, Folsom said he was dismissed without just cause after he sought legal advice from the Flathead County Attorney regarding the conduct of the police department, namely that officers’ conversations were being recording in several rooms of the Emergency Services Center.

Folsom believed he was fired in retaliation for seeking legal advice.

In a March 2015 affidavit, Folsom explains that he was one of the officers in 2012 advocating for Whitefish Police Protection Association to become affiliated with MPEA.

He claimed during that time he and other officers were being recorded continuously while in the Emergency Services Center, including in the squad room “which was supposed to be the officer’s sanctuary,” he said.

Folsom said none of the officers were made aware the recording was occurring.

“At no time did anyone in police administration speak or meet with me concerning the fact the police department phone was continually recording,” Folsom said.

In September 2012, Folsom said he met with Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan about his concerns of the ongoing recordings.

According to Folsom’s affidavit, in January 2013 police administrators met with Folsom about him speaking with Corrigan. Folsom was suspended a week later and dismissed the next month.

According to an investigative report on the claims of recorded conversations, three recording systems exist in the building for security and evidence purposes, including one that records phone conversations.

“The fact that recording systems existed within the building was common knowledge,” the investigation states.

However, the investigation notes that an “open mic” was unknowingly built into the design of the phone system. With an open mic, the system continues to record even after a phone is hung up.

“This problem was throughout the building and was not unique to the squad room,” the investigation notes.

“In short, this problem was not something unique to whatever union activities may or may have not occurred in the squad room, nor was the recording that occurred something instigated by management in any way to coerce…union activities,” the investigation concluded.

The open mic issue was eventually fixed.

The department denied any wrongdoing, and Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial said that multiple state agencies looked into those claims and deemed them unfounded.

Among the claims against the union, Folsom claimed that it acted with “deceitful” and even fraudulent conduct in handling his grievances against the police department.

In its own written response, the association denied the claims of misrepresentation but also alleged that the city of Whitefish did not have just cause in firing Folsom.

Dial said the city’s settlement did not involve a monetary payout. He added that he feels that both sides are satisfied with the deal.

— Daily Inter Lake reporter Matt Hudson contributed to this article