http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-849719.mp3
Kansas City, MO – With the trial set to start July 27, Kansas City's city council set the wheels in motion for a possible out-of-court settlement of a discrimination lawsuit against the city and the mayor.
Meeting behind closed doors, the council gave the city attorney the go-ahead on attempting negotiations on a lawsuit filed by former mayoral office employee Ruth Bates. Bates claims she was treated unfairly because of her gender and suffered racial insults from the mayor's wife, Gloria Squitiro.
The first word of an attempt to settle came from the mayor's personal attorney, Jim Wirken.
Bates' attorneys earlier said they might ask for as much as $800,000 from the city, and some council members are concerned about the release of Squitiro's diary in the media and the content of a recent affadavit in the case by former mayoral communications director Joe Miller.