Man gets $35k settlement from Harrisburg after claiming town’s officials got him fired

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County man who claimed in a 2025 federal lawsuit that elected officials got him fired over comments at public meetings in Harrisburg was paid a settlement.

The Village of Harrisburg paid Michael Williams $35,000 in an agreement that was reached on July 13. The court case was dismissed on July 17 and documents were made available to ABC 17 News on Thursday.

A separate settlement was reached with Commercial Trust Company of Fayette during the summer of 2025, but Williams attorney Andy Hirth told ABC 17 News that the details of that settlement are confidential.  

Williams claimed in his lawsuit that the city and bank violated his First Amendment rights and interfered with his employment.

His boss allegedly had confronted him after receiving “complaints directly from members of the Board about his questions and comments," previous reporting shows.

The lawsuit claimed the bank's CEO handed him a separation letter in October 2024, laying out the reports of "antagonistic and belligerent opposition to Council decisions" that the bank feared reflected poorly on it.