Jury trial set

If the current timeline holds, disputes among city employees will not come to a resolution any time soon.

On Tuesday, Special Judge Douglass K. Mawhorr scheduled a two-day jury trial for Portland clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips’ lawsuit against the City of Portland, Police Chief Dustin Mock and investigator Jeff Hopkins was scheduled for Nov. 2 and 3, 2026.

A final pretrial hearing/conference is set for Oct. 19, 2026.

The two-day jury trial is the final step in an agreed case management order issued by Mawhorr. The order also calls for the parties to go through mediation with Richard McDevitt on or before July 15. McDevitt is a former magistrate judge of Lake County Circuit Court who now operates McDevitt Mediation Center.

If the case proceeds to the trial phase, it will be held in Jay Circuit Court.

The lawsuit stems from one of eight tort claims filed in the last two years as part of disputes between city elected officials and employees. None of the others have advanced to the level of a lawsuit thus far.

Phillips filed a tort claim against the city, its police department, Mock and Hopkins in April, followed by a lawsuit in July, alleging that she has been the focus of “torment, harassment and defamation” by the police department. She accuses Mock and Hopkins of threatening her; says the police chief has made disparaging or defamatory statements against her; and alleges that Mock and Hopkins reviewed and distributed video footage of Phillips exercising in the city’s exercise room that included her private telephone conversations.

Mock and Hopkins have also issued a tort claim against the city, Phillips, her office and council members Ron May, Mike Aker and Dave Golden. It alleges a wide range of complaints including false allegations by Phillips, ethical violations by Wes Schemenaur in his role as city attorney and ongoing bias from council members. That tort claim, one of eight filed against the City of Portland in the last two years, has not risen to the level of a lawsuit thus far.

In early September, Mawhorr granted a motion from Phillips for a joint case management order in the case and gave the parties involved 30 days to submit their proposals. The agreed case management order issued Tuesday stems from those proposals.

The police department, Mock and Hopkins filed a motion to dismiss the suit against them last month, arguing that they cannot be sued under state law. Mawhorr granted that motion from the police department on Sept. 24 but allowed the complaints against the police chief and investigator to remain. 

Phillips’ attorney, Clayton Lengerich of Miller Burry & Brown, Decatur, consented to the police department being removed from the suit but argued that Mock and Hopkins should stay in place because their conduct “falls outside the scope of employment and/or was committed with malice, willfulness, wantonness, or recklessness, thereby invoking the statutory exceptions to immunity under Indiana law.”

A hearing on the motion to dismiss Mock and Hopkins from the suit is scheduled for Jan. 6.

Among the other active claims are two by former Portland wastewater department employee Brad Clayton. He alleges that his private Family and Medical Leave Act information was illegally made public, that he was berated by wastewater department superintendent Brad Dues and that city officials, including Mayor Jeff Westlake, spread disinformation about him.

Former Portland police officers Patrick Long and Kyle Denney also have active tort claims against the city and others. Long alleges attempts at coercion and threats regarding a state police investigation, disregard for department policy and interfering with a job application. Denney alleges that statements were made against him, including allegations of misconduct.

Two other tort claims filed in 2024 have been resolved.