Man claims Boone County town’s elected officials got him fired over meeting comments

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County man claims that elected officials in Harrisburg got him fired over comments and appearances he made at various public meetings.

Michael Williams filed a lawsuit against the village of Harrisburg, its governing board of trustees and his former employer, Commercial Trust of Fayette in January. The case was moved to Missouri's federal court in the western district on Friday. Williams claims the city and bank violated his First Amendment rights and interfered with his employment.

Williams claims in court documents that members of the board complained to Commercial Trust over seemingly disapproving behavior he would display at board meetings starting in the summer. Williams -- who was a loan officer at the bank's Harrisburg branch -- alleges his bosses were worried about the board's disapproval since they and the city were customers of the bank.

Williams, in court documents, says he first attended a Board of Trustees meeting in June. The board was set to discuss the Harrisburg branch's parking lot connection to the road. But Williams claims he became interested in other items on the agenda following that - discussions on noise ordinances, leash rules and security cameras for law enforcement. He said he provided some comments questioning those topics when the public was allowed to do so.

Williams claims his boss confronted him the next day about the meeting. The lawsuit said the bank managers had received "complaints directly from members of the Board about his questions and
comments" at the meeting. Williams claims he offered to apologize to the board members, and that his employers told him to "say less" at future meetings.

Williams said he continued to attend public meetings and began making public record requests for things like city easements maps and budgets. But the board and the bank, he claims, got together again to complain about his attendance and attitude. The lawsuit says the bank's CEO handed him a separation letter in October, laying out the reports of "antagonistic and belligerent opposition to Council decisions" that the bank feared reflected poorly on it.

"Since that time, we have been advised that you have attended a number of City Council meetings,
most recently in September 2024," the letter said, according to the lawsuit. "Although you have not made any statements, you have reacted negatively throughout the proceedings, including shaking your head as if to disagree. You are not a resident of the city and when you choose to attend a City Council meeting the assumption is that you are acting as a representative of CTC, especially when there is no obvious personal reason for your attendance, and your conduct has hurt our reputation in the community.

"In addition, you have made a request for information about the City Council members - that you attempted to keep secret - which has led to questions and concerns about your motivation," the letter continued. "You have not brought any concerns about Harrisburg council members to our attention, whether personal or job related, and we are not aware of any situations that could explain your actions. The bottom line is that we have fielded numerous complaints from our customers."

The lawsuit said Williams refused to sign a separation agreement with the bank which would have given him two months' pay and six months' health insurance coverage. The agreement, it said, would have waived any civil claims against the bank.

ABC 17 News reached out to attorneys for the city and bank.