Bird v. Evanston: Legal Fallout from Evanston's Nov 2023 Cease Fire Resolution

I’m not a lawyer and writing about legal stuff is hard1, but it’s often the best place to find newsworthy stuff with evidence. So I’m going to do my best here, if I screw anything up, please leave a comment or email me.2

The complaint argues that Liam Bird (Manager of Organizational Performance and Equity for the City of Evanston) was improperly terminated by the City of Evanston and had his first amendment rights violated. He claims that his expressions of sympathy for Palestinians on social media and in private conversations were the real reasons for his termination, not any legitimate performance issues.

Furthermore, Bird argues that he was a patsy at the controversial 11/30/2023 Equity Commission Meeting - it was a setup intended to make him look bad and bring cause for his termination. He alleges that City employees (Mayor Biss, Counsel Alexandria Ruggie and City Manager Luke Stowe) orchestrated events leading up to and during the 11/30/2023 Equity Commission meeting to associate him with the controversial resolution calling for an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza.

He argues that he was specifically targeted with the 11/30/2023 meeting; by being added to the website and named in an Evanston Now article. He alleges that since staff knew the meeting would be controversial, it would provide pretext for termination.

Mr. Bird claims he had no involvement in creating the case fire resolution. However, the City argues that Luke Stowe (City Manager) and Alison Leipsiger (Mayor Biss’ Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs Manager) met with Mr. Bird on November 20th and viewed the draft resolution on his computer. According to the City, they suggested edits to make it "more diplomatic."

The City argues he was terminated for other reasons, including performance and comments made on a hot mic in the 11/30/2023 meeting.

I was at this meeting on 11/30/2023 - in the overflow to the overflow room. It was a very heated meeting, but I actually left it feeling pretty good about our democracy and the ability to discuss difficult issues in a public space. I guess everyone on both sides disagrees with me on this. 🤷

Documents

• Bird vs Evanston Original Complaint (1/12/2024): Mr. Bird’s original complaint.

• City’s Response to Complaint (3/18/2024): The City denies most of Bird's allegations and argue that he was terminated for legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons, raising several affirmative defenses

• City’s Response to Discovery (5/15/2024): The City replies to some inquiries from Bird’s lawyers, including rationale for termination.

• Bird’s Motion to Compel Discovery of Closed Session Meetings - (6/20/2024) Bird seeks an order compelling the City of Evanston to produce minutes and recordings of executive sessions held in December 2023, arguing they are relevant to his wrongful termination case.

• City’s Response to the Motion to Compel (7/1/2024) - The City argues that the recordings should not be disclosed as they are protected by attorney-client privilege and the Open Meetings Act.

• Ruling on Motion (7/15/2024): Judge Blakey rules in favor of City, not required to turn over closed session meeting documents)

These documents make public some pretty interesting stuff.3

Hot Mic Incident

After my story on 11/30/2023, I got a bunch of emails saying that after the meeting, the mic was left on and 🔥 words were said by commission members. I attempted to FOIA recordings with the hot mic, but came up empty, so I didn’t write about it.

However, in the May 15th discovery, the City indicates that Mr. Bird was put on leave due to this incident.

Plaintiff was observed taking part in a conversation with members of the Commission during which one participant made a derogatory remark about Evanston residents to the effect of “I can’t believe these people brought all of these white people problems to the meeting.” The City was concerned that Plaintiff, as the Equity and Empowerment Manager, was present for this remark and did not say or do anything to indicate that it was inappropriate. Plaintiff was placed on leave the next day so that the City could investigate the incident.

Then again, in the City’s July 15 filing - the City indicates again that they believe this incident occurred and indicates this was the reason Mr. Bird was put on leave.

The City received complaints from Evanston residents about what they believed they overheard on the YouTube feed after the November 30 meeting. (See, e.g., Exhibit B, December 1, 2023 email from Shana Fromkin to Liam Bird, Daniel Biss, Eleanor Revelle, Luke Stowe.) On December 1, 2023, Plaintiff was placed on paid administrative leave so that the City could investigate the reports regarding the conduct of commission members after the meeting, including calling a particular family in Evanston “motherfuckers” and making disparaging remarks about the comments they heard from Jewish residents, referring to these comments as “white people shit.”

The case is still open and in discovery. According to the court documents, they are to complete fact discovery by 11/13/24.

3

Including the City denying knowledge of Bird’s DJ Career, which kind of cracked me up that they had to comment on this.