A wrongful termination lawsuit filed against the city of Charleston by former police chief Luther Folson Jr. has been dismissed.
In his Dec. 6 “Agreed Order to Dismiss,” Circuit Judge Jimmy McClure noted that the parties had “reached a full and final compromise regarding this dispute.”
Still, Folson’s claims against the city were dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning they could be refiled later. Each party was ordered to bear its own legal costs.
Contacted by text message Dec. 17, Folson replied two days later that he had agreed to the dismissal — his signature as plaintiff was on McClure's order — noting, “I had a reason for letting it go for now.” Folson did not elaborate.
Charleston Mayor Sedrick Smith did not respond to two telephone messages seeking comment about the lawsuit’s dismissal.
Folson, who lives in Water Valley, had served as police chief since Jan. 1. He was fired Sept. 5 by the Charleston Board of Commissioners. In a letter of termination to him, they noted, “The board felt that the direction of the department needed to change.”
Folson, who had been a member of the Charleston Police Department since November 2015 and was promoted to chief after the retirement of longtime top cop John Page, filed suit Sept. 15, charging that his dismissal was “unjust” and was based on “personal reasons” — disagreements between himself and newly seated commissioners — rather than his job performance.
In his initial four-page answer to Folson’s lawsuit, filed Oct. 19, Grenada defense attorney Kevin Horan sought to have Folson’s case tossed.
In a Nov. 16 memorandum in support of the city’s motion to dismiss, Horan noted that Mississippi’s at-will employment law allows an employer to terminate a worker at any time, with or without justification. “However aggrieved the plaintiff may feel about the cause for his termination in this situation, no relief is available to him,” Horan wrote.
IN THE PHOTO: Former Charleston police chief Luther Folson Jr.
