COLUMBIA, S.C. — In 2018, former Richland County Administrator Gerald Seals was fired by Council and given nearly one million dollars of tax payers money as a settlement.
Then, a concerned citizen – William Coggins – filed a lawsuit against Richland County and Gerald Seals for agreeing to the settlement behind closed doors.
Now in October 2020, a circuit court judge has ruled that Council’s actions did in fact violate transparency laws, known as FOIA, making Seal's large settlement invalid.
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"The order, however, did not say that the court found that there was any issue related to the amount that had been agreed to, the invalidation of the agreement was strictly related to violations of FOIA," explained Richland County Council's attorney Larry Smith.
Smith joined Council’s meeting Tuesday night to discuss how they should move forward with the case. Council decided they’re going to ask the court to reconsider their ruling. "We would be asking the court basically to consider perhaps a less drastic result," said Smith.
The biggest question of the night – what happens to the 985,000 dollars from the settlement? The judge didn’t specify what should happen to that money and now County Council must decide.
Councilmembers weren't able to come to a decision about the money on Tuesday so they voted to continue discussions at their next meeting on November 17.
In the meantime, Council says their attorneys will be in contact with Seals' attorneys to begin negotiations.