Expelled Fernley City Councilman Stan Lau has withdrawn a motion seeking clarification of a district court order regarding his expulsion from the city council and instead filed a new lawsuit against the City of Fernley, arguing the city is improperly treating an April corrective action as a permanent expulsion from office.
Attorney Jeff Dickerson, representing Lau, said the new lawsuit represents a change in legal strategy following months of litigation over the council’s March 4 vote to remove Lau from office.
“It’s taking the same fight through a different mechanism,” Dickerson said.
Earlier this year, Third Judicial District Court Judge Leon Aberasturi ruled the council violated Nevada’s Open Meeting Law when it voted to expel Lau on March 4. In response, the council approved corrective Action on April 15 intended to address the Open Meeting Lau violation.
Dickerson contends that corrective action was presented as a procedural fix and was not intended to remove Lau from office.
“All it was, was a corrective measure to keep the Attorney General off their back,” Dickerson said.
Dickerson said the city is now taking the position that the April 15 action itself served as Lau's expulsion. He said that position became clear after receiving a letter from attorney Sean Lancaster, representing the city through POOL Pact.
"Their lawyer sent a letter to me saying if Stan comes to the next meeting, since we expelled him on April 15, he's going to be removed," Dickerson said.
The new complaint alleges the city's current interpretation contradicts representations made during earlier court proceedings. Dickerson said city attorneys previously told the court the April corrective action would not affect Lau's status on the council.
"They said, 'We're really doing this so we keep the attorney general off our back. It's not going to affect Lau in any way,'" Dickerson said.
The lawsuit alleges the city's current position lacks legal justification and constitutes continued retaliation against Lau. Dickerson said the complaint also references a separate civil rights lawsuit previously filed against the city alleging violations of Lau's free speech rights. Dickerson said he intends to ask the court to consolidate the new lawsuit with the civil rights case.
The attorney said he plans to seek emergency relief by asking Aberasturi to restore Lau to his council seat while the litigation proceeds. He said he plans to file a request for a temporary restraining order after the city is served with the lawsuit, which he expected to happen Tuesday, Nov. 3.
"Within the next few days, I'll be filing an application for emergency relief to reseat him to his position pending the outcome of this case," Dickerson said.
Dickerson said time is a factor because Lau's term expires once election results are canvassed by the city council. If the court grants emergency relief before then, Lau could return to the council for the remainder of his term. In addition to reinstatement and back pay, the lawsuit seeks damages for emotional distress, mental anguish and harm to Lau's reputation. Dickerson said those claims would ultimately be decided by a jury.
By filing a new lawsuit rather than continuing to litigate procedural disputes in the original Open Meeting Law case, Dickerson said he hopes to eliminate what he described as barriers raised by the city and focus the court's attention on whether Lau should be restored to office.
"It gets rid of all the procedural baggage they were leaning onto," Dickerson said. "We can go straight in to Aberasturi now and just say, reseat him."
Fernley City Attorney Aaron Mouritsen said Tuesday afternoon the city had not yet been served with the lawsuit and had no comment but reiterated that the city’s position remains that Lau is expelled from the council.
“The corrective action still stands,” Mouritsen said.
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