The Sheboygan Common Council voted Monday night to settle a lawsuit with former Fire Chief Jeff Hermann at a cost of $25,000.

At the same meeting, the city denied a claim for $70,000 related to the former Boston Store's neighbors.

Hermann, who retired from city service at the start of 2014, sued for around $37,000 in back pay from the city claiming they withheld vacation and sick pay based on a policy change he said they could not make.

Prior to 2012, the city allowed sick days and vacation days to accrue from one year to the next. When an employee retired, the city had to pay out a certain amount to the employee based on the number of days logged.

However, following the elimination of some union bargaining agreements through Act 10, Sheboygan changed its policy and stopped the accrual of sick and vacation days and switched to personal days. Hermann argued that his was a "vested" benefit, meaning it could not be taken from him.

The settlement comes after Judge Rebecca Persick denied motions on both sides for summary judgment, instead prodding both parties to work something out between them. The $25,000 they pay to Hermann would be in addition to the $18,378 the city paid in 2015 to defend the city in the suit.

But while the city voted to end that legal battle, it disallowed another claim made for nearly double that amount from Sam Walker, the owner of Sonlight Books.

Walker, speaking at Monday's council meeting, said he has seen thousands of dollars in water damage since the city demolished the Boston Store and regraded the land to serve as a green space. He cited information from engineer Roger Miller saying the change in that grade has caused water to seep into his basement. As a result, he filed a claim with the city for $70,794 to pay for repairs, equipment replacement and work to waterproof the building from further flooding.

The city voted to disallow the claim based on a unanimous recommendation from the Finance Committee. Finance Committee member Julie Kath said she couldn't go into the details of their discussion during closed session. City Attorney Chuck Adams told the committee the city didn't seem to have committed any negligence in this instance, which is the only case in which the claim might have been allowed.

Despite this, three aldermen voted to approve the claim: Bryan Bitters, Job Hou-Seye and Mark Hermann. Hou-Seye defended his vote, saying if the city had been on the resulting end of similar damage, they'd demand payment.

"Sam has been in business for 34 years," Hou-Seye said. "And as the letter indicated, there was no water in that building for the past 33 years. ... You should do the right thing because it is the right thing to do."

Seven aldermen voted with the Finance Committee. New alderwoman Rosemarie Trester voted to abstain.

Reach Jason Smathers at 920-453-5167 or

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