Starnes Davis Florie attorneys Kirby Howard and John Hemmings secured a summary judgment in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama, on behalf of a nonprofit housing authority. The case involved breach-of-contract claims asserted by two former employees.
The housing authority, which provides affordable housing assistance to residents in Bayou La Batre, owns and operates a housing complex that was constructed with $15.7 million in federal grant funds for individuals displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The housing authority faced claims based on purported contracts that dramatically increased compensation, provided excessive paid time off, and promised multimillion-dollar retirement payouts.
The court granted the motion, ruling that the contracts were unconscionable, illegal under Alabama statutes, and contrary to the public policy of the State of Alabama. The court described the agreements as an “attempted fleecing of public money” that would have required the sale of all 99 homes serving low- to moderate-income families to fund the proposed payouts.
