Assessor seeks change of venue in his lawsuit against Tippecanoe County
Also, happy 40th anniversary to Bob Knight’s chair tossing, for those who celebrate. And if you're a fan of Based in Lafayette, a deal to share with friends.
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A few notes while waiting on a Purdue-IU Sunday …
ASSESSOR ASKS FOR CHANGE OF VENUE IN LAWSUIT AGAINST TIPPECANOE COUNTY: Tippecanoe County Assessor Eric Grossman, suing the county over the way it handles retirement contributions on employees’ paychecks, has asked to move the case to another county, according to court filings this month.
“Because Tippecanoe County is also presently the venue for this lawsuit, and because any potential jury is likely to be composed of individuals whose tax dollars will be used to satisfy a judgment, it is unlikely that plaintiffs and members of the class will be able to receive a fair trial on account of local prejudice or bias,” a change of venue motion filed Feb. 5 argues.
A hearing on the motion and other matters in the case – including whether a special judge should be appointed – is scheduled for March 10 in Tippecanoe Circuit Court, according to the court docket.
Since filing the case in November, Grossman’s case added Christopher Coakes, an employee on the assessor’s staff, as the case sets up as a class action.
The lawsuit filed by Grossman, a Democrat first elected in 2014, centers on a section of the county’s employee handbook about the Public Employees Retirement Fund that says “the county contributes 3% of employees’ gross wages for deposit in an annuity savings account.”
Grossman argues that the county deducts 3% from employees’ paychecks to deposit into the retirement fund, but doesn’t contribute 3% from county’s funds.
“Instead of making the promised contributions for the benefit of Grossman and those similarly situation, Tippecanoe County unlawfully and invalidly withheld wages from Grossman and those similarly situated and remitted those instead,” the lawsuit argues.
Grossman filed the suit two weeks after a Nov. 1, 2024, in-house email exchange in which he wrote that while posting job openings, employees in his office questioned the county handbook’s reference to a county contribution to a retirement savings account.
“The word ‘contributes’ here would most commonly be meant to designate the party providing the contributed item,” Grossman wrote to Sadie McKinley, the county’s human resources director, according to the lawsuit. “But the employees have noted that the county does not contribute to the annuity savings account at all per the handbook; the employee is expected to ‘contribute.’ The concepts of an ‘employer contribution’ or in this case, county contribution, to an employee benefit cannot reasonably mean that the employer commandeers some of the negotiated pay – that would be an employee contribution not a ‘county’ contribution. … I contend that my employees are not receiving the rate of negotiated pay per the plain wording of the terms described in the handbook.”
According to the lawsuit, McKinley responded that she wasn’t a fan of the policy and that the wording, to her, “is set out to confuse employees.”
The lawsuit asks for the county to make up unpaid wages and attorney’s fees, among other damages.
A response, filed Jan. 27 by the county’s representation from Indianapolis-based attorney from Barnes & Thornburg, denies Grossman’s claims and asked the court to dismiss the complaint in its entirety.
HOOPS NOTES WHILE WAITING FOR PURDUE-IU TO TIP: J&C’s Sam King tracked all assists Braden Smith has dished in the past three seasons, as the Purdue junior point guard approaches the program’s record of 690, set in 1977 by Bruce Parkinson. Smith stands with 683 assists heading into Sunday afternoon’s rivalry game against IU. You know the list of recipients starts with two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey, now with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. The rest of the list is nice recent-memory collection of the Purdue roster. Here it is: “Braden Smith will soon break Purdue basketball's assist record. How were they distributed?”
Speaking of the game, here are the stakes, lineups, broadcast details and predictions for a couple of team scuffling over the past couple of weeks. Game time: 1:30 p.m. Via Brian Neubert with Gold and Black: “Purdue Basketball Preview: Game 28 — @ Indiana.”
As if they need more fuel, today’s game marks the 40th anniversary of coach Bob Knight sending a chair across the court during an IU-Purdue game. Where were you on Feb. 23, 1985?
BRAUN’S NEW DIRECTION ON DOLLY PARTON’S IMAGINATION LIBRARY CUTS: After making national headlines for a proposed Indiana two-year budget that removed state funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Gov. Mike Braun on Friday announced that he’d enlisted his wife, Maureen, to lead a drive to identify donors and raise money to keep the program designed to get books into the hands of preschool readers going in Indiana. The moves came after Braun’s budget would nix efforts by his predecessor, Eric Holcomb, that wound up putting $6 million for Imagination Library into the last state budget, passed in 2023. Indiana Capital Chronicle editor Niki Kelly had more here: “First Lady to raise money for Dolly Parton’s library program.”
Meanwhile, philanthropic efforts in Greater Lafayette has been working in similar fashion, with several existing funds set up to support Imagination Library, via the Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette. For more information, check the Community Foundation’s list of existing funds at: www.inspiringgreater.org.
For more about Imagination Library, here’s information locally via Right Steps: rightstepscdc.org/imagination-library/
YOU GRAB A LINE, I’LL GET A POLE, THE CASON FAMILY PARK VERSION: West Lafayette is aimed at a grand opening for the 14-acre Cason Family Park on Cumberland Avenue in three months. The park – anchored by a restored, one-room schoolhouse the Cason family donated to the city and on ground the family donated – will include $19 million in trails, a 4.2-acre pond for boating and fishing, a pavilion for events, playgrounds and more than three acres of forest restoration areas throughout. Last week, the West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission dealt with another detail: Stocking fish in pond that the city reported is starting to fill. The commission settled on a $15,837 bid – one of four offered on the project – from Martinsville-based Clear Creek Fisheries to stock the lake with an array of redear sunfish, bluegill, channel catfish, golden shiners and flathead minnows. The winning bid included 150 largemouth bass, 12 inches or bigger, which the parks department recommended because it “gives us the best opportunity to have catchable fish on day one of the park opening.” That day one, based on the city’s save-the-date reminders, is May 22.
TICKETS FOR THE U.S. ARMY’S JAZZ AMBASSADORS AT LAFAYETTE JEFF: Free tickets went online this weekend for an April 12 show by the Jazz Ambassadors, the touring big band of the U.S. Army, at Lafayette Jefferson High School. The show will be 7:30 p.m. that night at Lafayette Jeff’s Rohrman Performing Arts Center. To get tickets, here’s the link.
AND FINALLY … THE BEST PRICE ON BASED IN LAFAYETTE: Are you on the fence about a Based in Lafayette subscription? Here’s the deal for new subscribers, through the end of February. If you’re a Based in Lafayette fan, share it with your friends.
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"Where were you on Feb. 23, 1985?"
I don't know, man, I had just turned two.
I am an Evansville alum, and IU player (later UE transfer), and former UE coach Marty Simmons I think got under Bob Knight's skin moments before he threw that chair.