Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – April 16, 2024 – The Jonesboro City Council approved the settlement of the lawsuit against the city, Mayor Copenhaver and Police Chief Rick Elliott by an 11-1 vote.

Council member LJ Bryant cast the sole no vote.

Rachel Anderson, who was a senior analyst in the Jonesboro Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center, filed the lawsuit in December after she was fired in November by Elliott.

Earlier Annie Depper, an attorney with the Fuqua Campbell law firm spoke to the council to recommend settling the lawsuit because she said the legal cost alone for the city could easily reach the $100,000 mark if it went to trial.

As part of the settlement, the city will pay $35,000 of the $99,000 agreed upon. The Arkansas Municipal League will pay the remainder.

Depper also said if a jury found for Anderson the amount awarded by it could be much more.

Bryant, during the council comments near the end of the meeting told Copenhaver that he should pay $30,000 out of his own pocket.

In November, Anderson spoke in opposition to Copenhaver’s plan to merge the 911 Dispatch Center with the Real Time Crime Center and move the combined units to another building. Her comments were made during a public comments period at a City Council meeting.

She was subsequently fired by Elliott.

On Feb. 2, special Judge Bentley Story ordered the city to conduct a name-clearing hearing for Anderson, and on Feb. 6, he followed up by ordering mediation between Anderson and the city officials.

On Feb. 12 Copenhaver and Elliott’s attorney, Chris Stevens of Little Rock, asked Bentley to reconsider his ruling,

Anderson’s attorneys, Lucien Gillham and Luther Sutter of Little Rock, said she deserved the name-clearing hearing because of the publicity of her firing had an ill effect on her career opportunities.

In a written response to her firing, Elliott wrote, “Her statements and actions are considered to be arrogant and insubordinate, and she certainly spoke ill of a project that is being worked on. Therefore, I felt betrayed by her actions. I no longer have any faith or confidence in her as an employee that she can or will follow my direction of operations in the department.”

Anderson has since been hired as Editor-in-Chief of this news site. However, to safeguard journalistic integrity, Anderson was not involved in the writing of this story.