Insurance company paid man $67,500 - North Lake Fire Department settled discrimination suit

TOWN OF MERTON -- The insurance company for the North Lake Fire Department paid $67,500 to settle the federal lawsuit that was filed by a Milwaukee man and his relatives after they suffered a racist encounter by two then-firefighters in April 2005.

The amount was disclosed Friday by Continental Western Insurance Company after repeated requests by the Journal Sentinel for the settlement terms.

It is only a portion of the settlement Mark Bratton and his relatives received. Then-North Lake Fire Chief Terrence Stapleton had homeowners insurance through Acuity, and then-firefighter Mark Weber had personal insurance through American Family Insurance. Representatives of those insurance companies have declined to release the settlement terms, saying that the settlement proceedings were confidential.

Bratton's attorney, Chris Trebatoski, said Friday that other sums of money were paid. But he said he could not reveal the amounts or who paid them because of the confidentiality agreement in the case.

In its records requests to the North Lake Fire Department and the Town of Merton, the Journal Sentinel argued that the settlement amount paid by Continental Western should be public. Wisconsin courts have ruled that settlements involving public agencies and public employees must be disclosed.

Even if insurance companies pay, the settlements cannot be kept secret, state courts have determined.

Bratton filed the lawsuit against Stapleton, Weber, the fire department and the town. The fire department was eventually dismissed from the lawsuit, which was settled in August.

Since August, though, the fire department and town had declined to release the settlement amount. Officials with both said they did not know the amount and that it was not in writing.

On Friday, following another request last week for the settlement amount and correspondence between the insurance company and the fire department, Continental Western released a statement that says:

"North Lake Volunteer Fire Department's insurer has paid a total of $67,500 in order to settle the claims and lawsuit Bratton v. Weber, et al., against and on behalf of North Lake Volunteer Fire Department and Town of Merton. No portion of this amount was paid by North Lake Volunteer Fire Department or the Town of Merton from public funds."

The lawsuit stemmed from an encounter Weber and Stapleton, both white residents of the Town of Merton, had on April 19, 2005, with Bratton, who is African-American, at the Monches Mill Pond.

The incident unfolded when Weber, who had been drinking at a nearby restaurant, was forced to stop his truck as Bratton crossed Highway E to fish, according to a criminal complaint.

Bratton said he did nothing to provoke the incident and was merely fishing with his family. Weber, using a racial epithet, told Bratton to get out of town.

After encountering Bratton, Weber went to the North Lake Fire Department station, where he met Stapleton, who also had been drinking, the complaint says. The two men went to the pond, where witnesses said they saw Weber threaten Bratton with a handgun and Stapleton use his German shepherd to chase Bratton.

Both Stapleton and Weber were charged with hate crimes.

Earlier this month, Stapleton, 67, entered an Alford-type no-contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct with a hate crime enhancer. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but concedes there is sufficient evidence to convict. A misdemeanor count of obstructing that had been filed against Stapleton was dismissed.

He was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 100 hours of community service.

Weber, 42, pleaded guilty this month to a misdemeanor count of pointing a firearm at a person and to misdemeanor disorderly conduct with a hate crime enhancer. The hate crime enhancer increases the maximum punishment that can be meted out.

Weber is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 22. Weber, who, like Stapleton, has resigned from the Fire Department, faces up to one year of incarceration and a $10,000 fine.