A lawsuit filed against the city of Cold Spring, Minnesota by its former Chief of Police will be moving into mediation instead of the court room, at least at first. This is due to a state law that requires all civil lawsuits to go through a mediation process before being placed on the court docket.

Former Cold Spring Police Chief Eric Johnson filed the suit after Cold Spring made a conditional offer to him to become their new Chief of Police. He quit his job in preparation for the new position. However, Cold Spring then discovered that several of Johnson’s First Responder Certifications were not current and had expired. Johnson had not attended a First Responder training course in nearly 20 years, and did not hold a current CPR certification. The City Council stated that had they known of Johnson’s lack of qualifications, they would not have interviewed him for the position in the first place. The council held a no confidence vote concerning Johnson, and a formal offer of employment was never tendered.

Johnson’s sued for Breach of Contract, charging that the city was negligent in its handling of the employment offer. The city filed a motion in early 2015 to dismiss the lawsuit, and the court has 90 days to decide how to respond; the court can decide to dismiss the lawsuit entirely or only portions of it. If mediation fails and the case is not dismissed, the trial is scheduled to begin on August 3, 2015.