11012016 - News Article - Soderquist, Lake Station sued by city police officer

Soderquist, Lake Station sued by city police officer
Post-Tribune (IN)
November 1, 2016
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/resources/doc/nb/news/16060D55907F6768?p=AWNB
Former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist's legal troubles didn't end when he recently started serving a four-year sentence on public corruption charges in a federal prison.

Soderquist is named in a lawsuit brought by Lake Station police Officer William Taylor, who claims he was fired from his job for political reasons in violation of his constitutional rights, according to court documents.

Taylor also is suing the city of Lake Station, former Lake Station Board of Works members Roger Szotek and Joe Stevens, and former Lake Station Police Chief Kevin Garber, documents said.

Taylor's lawsuit claims he was targeted for political retribution after appearing in a photo posted on Facebook in April 2014 showing people celebrating the announcement of Soderquist's federal indictment, which became known around Lake Station as the "indictment party," court filings stated.

Within a month of the incident, water service to Taylor's home in Lake Station was terminated and Garber had conveyed a message to Taylor that he was a "marked man" because he expressed agreement with the indictment of Soderquist, the suit alleges. The lawsuit claims Soderquist withheld from Taylor $500 of the $1,500 wage bonus normally paid to Lake Station police officers annually.

Taylor also claims he was fired in October 2014 by vote of the Lake Station Board of Works over "disciplinary reasons" because of his association with his sister, Kim Frizzell. She was the police department's secretary until January 2012, when she was allegedly laid off at Soderquist's direction, court documents stated.

Frizzell, who could not be reached for comment, returned to work six months later when Lake Station Mayor Christopher Anderson, who at the time was serving as city judge, hired her as secretary for Lake Station City Court, documents said.

Anderson filed a lawsuit against the city after Soderquist reduced the court's budget to $1. Frizzell then cooperated with the Indiana State Board of Accounts and the FBI in their investigation of Soderquist and the city, documents said.

Taylor's mother was also discharged from her position with Lake Station as a receptionist, according to the lawsuit. Taylor was reinstated as a police officer in July 2015 by ruling of Lake Superior Court's Civil Division.

Taylor has retained Valparaiso University law professor Ivan Bodensteiner as legal counsel. Bodensteiner said Taylor has strong First and 14th Amendment claims in that his client was clearly fired over political reasons, causing him emotional distress and lost income.

Taylor is seeking unspecified lost wages and benefits, compensatory and punitive damages and attorney fees, according to the lawsuit.

Attempts to reach a spokesman for the city of Lake Station were unsuccessful.

In September 2015, a jury found Soderquist, 47, and his wife, Deborah Soderquist, 58, guilty of using money from his campaign fund and the city's food pantry on dozens of gambling trips to Michigan.

He also pleaded guilty to helping his stepdaughter, Miranda Brakely, 36 - who was sentenced to six months of home detention - hide thousands of dollars she stole from the city when she worked there as a court clerk. She pleaded guilty to one count of theft from a program receiving federal funds.

Caption: Former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist and the city have been named in a lawsuit filed by a city police officer.