A lawsuit brought by the Synergy Foundation against the city of Cleveland, the Federation of Gay Games, and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission has been settled before heading to trial.
Synergy, if you’ll remember, was pegged to organize the 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland but was removed from that position after the FGG and the city of Cleveland became disenchanted with the group’s work. That’s when Synergy lobbed the suit against the participating parties.
According to Spangle Magazine and the Windy City Media Group, a settlement has been in the works for awhile and has been reached, though terms were not disclosed except for the agreement with Cleveland (because of public records laws) which includes the city paying Synergy $475,000.
“What we felt was that the longer this went on — the litigation itself — the less likely it was any party … could successfully run the 2014 Gay Games,” Richard Haber, an attorney representing Synergy Foundation, told Spangle Magazine. “And resolving the lawsuit was in the best interest of all parties and in the best interest of the Gay Games.”
The settlements, though agreed upon, have not been signed off on by all groups nor approved by a judge.
This article appears in Jul 27 – Aug 2, 2011.
Can someone explain how the city of Cleveland can afford to shell out $475,000 for this settlement? Who is going to be held accountable for this fiasco in city government, wasn’t it indicated in the lawsuit this all started because of Valerie McCall? Does she still have a job and if so why? The truth about this story needs to come out.