The Webster Parish Convention and Visitors Commission will meet Friday to discuss the lawsuit filed against the bureau by former executive director Lynn Dorsey.
The commission will meet at 8 a.m. in Minden-South Webster Chamber of Commerce conference room, located at 110 Sibley Road.
The sole item on the agenda is to “discuss the litigation concerning Ms. Lynn Dorsey and the Commission currently pending in the 26th Judicial District Court, Parish of Minden, Docket No. 76,111, Lynn Dorsey v. Webster Parish Convention and Visitors Commission, in executive session and resolution of litigation in open session.”
Dorsey filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the bureau in April and is seeking to be reinstated to the position she had held since 2004.
The lawsuit alleges the commission failed to comply with various public meeting statutes that ultimately led to her termination.
The suit also alleges wrongdoing in the appointment of a new commission member.
Dorsey was placed on administrative leave Jan. 2 after she mistakenly live-streamed a nude video of herself to the bureau’s
Instagram account in December 2016. During a four-hour closed-door hearing Feb. 13, the commission voted 3-2 to terminate Dorsey citing a violation of her employment contract.
A portion of the 32-page suit claims the commission violated public meeting laws by not giving adequate notice that a previously-scheduled Jan. 17 meeting had been moved to a later date as well as not including an executive session on the Jan. 27 posted agenda and the legitimacy of the February hearing; therefore the court should rule that Dorsey should be reinstated retroactively to the position.
The suit names not only the governing body but also Jerry Madden acting in his capacity as board chairman for allegations of conspiring to sway commission members to vote in favor of Dorsey’s termination.
Additional claims in the suit include:
an illegal lack of record of Joan Roan’s resignation from the commission both in meeting minutes and in letter form
an illegality in the nomination and appointment of Karen Calvert to fill Roan’s vacated position on the board
questionable actions regarding abstention and recusal of board members from voting on entering into executive session as well as on Dorsey’s termination.
