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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 17, 2006 Council asks bar to investigate Doyle Medford officials suspect he was negligent in not warning them of liability when they switched insurance coverage for city retirees By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune The Medford City Council is asking the Oregon State Bar to investigate whether former City Attorney Ron Doyle failed to properly advise the council that changing health insurance benefits to some retirees could expose it to liability. The council voted 6-to-1 Thursday to send a letter to the bar outlining concerns that Doyle "breached his fiduciary duty" by failing to disclose his concerns that the council might be violating state law when it no longer provided continuing insurance to management retirees. "It’s not a vindictive thing," Councilwoman Claudette Moore said after the meeting. "He was representing us at the time and yet he wasn’t. He didn’t bring this forward to us." Councilman Greg Jones cast the only no vote, and Councilman Bob Strosser was absent. "I hadn’t had an opportunity to read that entire letter," said Jones, a retired city employee who has recused himself from previous meetings on the subject because of a conflict of interest. "I was taken aback a bit." Advertisement If the bar agrees to investigate and finds Doyle committed violations, he could face discipline ranging from a reprimand to disbarment. "During all the time I was employed as Medford’s city attorney, I zealously represented the city of Medford, my client, in all of its dealings," Doyle said Thursday, declining further comment. A four-page letter to the Oregon State Bar Client Assistance Office, signed by Mayor Gary Wheeler, said Doyle was responsible for advising the council on the legality of its actions and "did not advise the city council of any impropriety, illegality or risk" when the council approved the change in insurance coverage in 2002. Doyle contends that a state statute requires a local government which offers health care insurance to employees to make that same coverage available after retirement. The letter asks the bar to investigate nine points, including whether Doyle competently handled matters entrusted to him; whether he properly advised the city and its auditors of possible legal exposure; and whether Doyle "breached his fiduciary duty by placing his interests above those of his client when he failed to disclose the perceived wrongdoing so that he could keep his job." Doyle has said he failed to come to the council with his concerns because City Manager Mike Dyal told him the council backed his decision. He also alleges Dyal in a 2001 meeting threatened to fire him if he opposed the change. Bill Mansfield, a Medford lawyer who served on the Medford City Council and is a former Medford city attorney, called the bar complaint "sour grapes." "If Ron Doyle’s case is valid it should be so held by the court, and if it’s not then it should be rejected by the court, and that’s where it should be tried," he said. "To try to discredit him in this way is really bad business on the part of the city, and they should be ashamed of themselves." In September Doyle, who left the city in April, filed a notice to sue, accusing the city of breaking state law by denying continued insurance to some retirees. Eight other retirees from the city of Medford filed similar claims. In October, Doyle sent a letter to City Attorney John Huttl requesting continuation of the same health insurance coverage current employees are provided, or else a lump sum payment of $90,000 to cover additional insurance and prescription costs. In his letter, Doyle said his wife’s health circumstances make her uninsurable under a new policy. In November, Doyle told the City Council it should fire Dyal or request his resignation for Dyal’s decision to deny the retirees continued insurance. Doyle claims Dyal knowingly broke state law and a city resolution about retiree coverage. The city’s liability insurance company hired Robert E. Franz Jr., a Springfield attorney, to "evaluate, investigate and defend if necessary" possible lawsuits against the city over lack of continued health insurance for retirees. In January, Doyle filed a Bureau of Labor and Industries discrimination complaint against the city over its failure to provide continued health insurance to retirees. That complaint was forwarded to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The council has met in six executive sessions on the topic, and in March voted to reject Doyle’s offer to settle a potential lawsuit. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail Council asks bar to investigate Doyle ">[email protected] . 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