Settlement reached in Vicksburg mayor sexual harassment lawsuit

ClarionLedger.com

Associated Press

NATCHEZ — A sexual harassment lawsuit against the city of Vicksburg and Mayor Paul Winfield has been settled.
A court filing said the settlement was reached Monday after a hearing in U.S. District Court in Natchez, but he terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The parties were directed to submit to the judge an agreed order to dismiss the suit.
The Vicksburg Post reports that attorneys in the case met behind closed doors for six hours Monday with Magistrate Michael T. Parker before the deal was announced.
The lawsuit was filed Feb. 1, 2012, by former city employee Kenya Burks. The lawsuit alleged that Winfield made unwanted sexual advances after Burks ended a consensual sexual relationship.
"The case is resolved. So, it's over," Nick Norris, one of Burks' attorneys, said at the courthouse late Monday.
Attorneys Vikki J. Taylor and Robert Gibbs appeared for Winfield, who did not attend the settlement conference. They did not comment on the terms of the settlement as they left the courthouse.
Burks, 39, Winfield's chief of staff from July 2009 to April 2011, filed suit against the city a year ago.
She claimed she was subjected to a hostile work environment and retaliation after a consensual affair soured. Later filings added Winfield as a defendant and asked for $1.5 million in damages.
Winfield, also 39, denied claims of sexual relations.
Winfield filed for a second term as mayor Feb. 15. Five days later, he was arrested on federal bribery charges. He was released on an unsecured $10,000 bond, and the charge will move to a federal grand jury.
The criminal complaint says a confidential FBI informant called Winfield on July 17, 2012, to discuss "pre-event disaster contracts" with the city.
It says the two met at a Jackson restaurant the next day, and the informant asked Winfield what it would take to get the contract.
"Winfield responded 'Ten' and held up 10 fingers, signifying $10,000," the complaint says.
Winfield agreed to take half the money up front and the rest after the contract was awarded, according to the complaint. The complaint says the source paid Winfield $5,000 in hundred dollar bills that had been provided by the FBI.
In August, Winfield called the informant and said he owed $4,300 in taxes and was "in a bind," the complaint said. They later met in the parking lot of a McDonald's in Natchez, where the source gave Winfield another $2,000 and promised to give him the remaining $3,000 when the contract was awarded, according to the complaint.

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