It’s been nearly three years since Plymouth policeman Robert DeLee filed a lawsuit against the City of Plymouth claiming that the City had failed to pay all of his longevity pay after he returned from an eight-month tour in Afghanistan as a U.S. Air Force Reservist.
Sean Surrisi, City of Plymouth attorney confirmed Tuesday that the City had reached a settlement agreement with Police Officer Bob DeLee on his longevity pay while he was deployed overseas.
Bob DeLee was paid the disputed amount of longevity pay $1,800 for the first deployment and $2,362.30 for his second deployment, plus interest of $16.57 and $5.75 last week.
In the near future, Mr. DeLee will be voluntarily dismissing his case against the City.
Surissi said, “However, there is one remaining dispute. Mr. DeLee’s Department of Justice attorneys assert that they, not Mr. DeLee, are entitled to $223.50 in printing costs for having printed appellate briefs.” The City objected to that request on the grounds that the USERRA statute and the federal court rules do not permit such a payment directly to attorneys.
Surrisi said, “This is a question that no court has previously addressed.” After they failed to respond to the City’s objection, the Court of Appeals in Chicago ordered Mr. DeLee’s lawyers to respond back in January.
The City Attorney commented, “At this point, we are awaiting a decision by that court on the cost issue, which should be made soon.” He continued, “Our settlement agreement calls for us to wait for that decision before everything is finalized. Once the decision comes out, the City will issue a press release detailing the resolution of the case.”
