|
Ex-funeral agency chief settles suit
11/09/2001
By GEORGE KUEMPEL / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – A former state funeral home regulator who said she was wrongfully fired for investigating a large funeral home chain operated by a longtime family friend ofGeorge W. Bush has settled her 2-year-old whistleblower lawsuit for $210,000.
The state will pay Eliza May and her lawyers $155,000 and Houston-based Service Corp. International will pay $55,000, said sources familiar with the agreement.
Ms. May contended in her lawsuit that she was fired in 1999 as executive director of the Texas Funeral Service Commission after SCI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Waltrip met with Joe Allbaugh, a top aide to Mr. Bush while he was governor, to complain about the agency's investigation of the company's homes.
After the investigation, fines totaling about $450,000 were assessed against more than 20 of SCI's affiliated funeral homes for using unlicensed embalmers. SCI has appealed, and a state hearings officer is expected to rule soon on the case.
Neither SCI, Mr. Bush nor any of the other defendants admit wrongdoing under the terms of the settlement. Attorney General John Cornyn, who was also named as a defendant as a result of a legal opinion he wrote that was favorable to SCI, represented the state in the case.
SCI spokesman Greg Bolton said only that the case has been settled to everyone's satisfaction.
"I'm told all of the parties to this litigation and their attorneys have agreed to a compromise settlement agreement, which has resulted in the dismissal of all claims," he said.
Harry Whittington of Austin, who was named presiding officer of the Funeral Service Commission after a major shakeup of agency in 1999, said his board reluctantly agreed to pay $50,000 as part of the settlement to end the 2-year-old case.
It was unclear which state agency or agencies put up the other $105,000.
Derek Howard, one of Ms. May's Austin lawyers, said he couldn't discuss terms of the agreement. "We're glad the matter has been resolved by way of settlement," he said.
Mr. Bush, Mr. Allbaugh, and the other defendants had previously denied wrongdoing.
Ms. May's lawyers had accused Mr. Bush of improperly intervening in the funeral commission investigation as a favor to his friend, Mr. Waltrip.
Mr. Waltrip served as a trustee for the George Bush Presidential Library, and SCI donated more than $100,000 toward its construction. Mr. Waltrip also contributed $45,000 to the younger Mr. Bush's gubernatorial campaigns.
While governor, Mr. Bush had dismissed the lawsuit as "frivolous" and filed a statement saying he "had no conversations with SCI officials, agents or representatives concerning the investigation or any dispute arising from it."
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(83 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
