Former Ottawa County Administrator John Gibbs is suing the Ottawa County Board and its chairman Joe Moss in federal court. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. The suit alleges that Gibbs was terminated for concerns he raised about Kallman Legal Group, a firm that has represented the board. Gibbs is seeking monetary, punitive, and other relief.
The suit alleges the board and Moss violated Gibbs' whistleblower protections and free-speech rights and made defamatory statements about him. The lawsuit also says they violated his contract by firing him for cause, based on defamatory allegations.
According to the suit, Gibbs complained twice about Kallman Legal Group. In a March 2023 email and a letter on July 18, Gibbs said Kallman Legal was poorly organized, inflated their bills, didn’t promptly respond to questions, and didn’t respond on Wednesdays and Fridays, among other complaints.
The suit goes on to say the board retaliated against him for airing those alleged concerns.
On February 23, Moss published a letter on his Facebook page alleging Gibbs engaged in misconduct. Gibbs was accused of threatening the county’s top lawyer, bugging his office, making sexist and discriminatory comments to staffers, and other allegations. He was fired shortly after.
The suit says these allegations were defamatory and claims Gibbs was fired in retaliation. The suit alleges Moss knew the claims were defamatory. The lawsuit says Gibbs disputed the accusations against him line-by-line in a letter that the suit claims was never shown to the board.
Gibbs is seeking a lump-sum payment of nine months' salary and benefits, which he says was outlined in the termination clause of his contract. Gibbs’ lawyer, Noah Hurwitz, said in a statement that Gibbs "was given no alternative but to sue the county for violating his constitutional rights, breaching his employment agreement, and publicly defaming him.”
Kallman Legal Group Senior Partner David Kallman said in a statement that the suit was “vague, baseless, false, and defamatory." Kallman disputed Gibb’s claims about the firm. Kallman said Gibbs was “angry because he had no authority to control our office and he had no authority to discipline or terminate Corporate Counsel at his whim.” They are calling for a retraction.
