Unable to hide or pawn off the Eckersley lawsuit, Blunt team settles

Hiding behind executive privilege didn't work, and trying to make Governor Nixon the target of the suit didn't work, so settling to avoid a trial may have been the last best option.

The state will pay a former staffer of Gov. Matt Blunt $500,000 to settle his wrongful termination and defamation lawsuit.

Scott Eckersley sued the governor and several of his staff members last January alleging defamation of character, wrongful termination and violations of the state open records law. The lawsuit has cost the state well over a million dollars as Blunt and his staffers used the state’s legal defense fund to pay attorneys fees.

For his part, Ed Martin is disappointed that he didn't get his day in court, which is odd when one remembers how hard Martin, Blunt and the other defendants worked to avoid going to trial.  Martin's lawyer also said "Martin had faith in the judicial system," which is downright perplexing, considering that less than a month ago, Martin was screaming about the "tyrannical judiciary in bed with elected officials."

Fired Up!'s resource page on the Eckersley scandal is here.