Former employer drops suit against Cedar Rapids area development director

The former employer of Cedar Rapids Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Marilee Fowler has agreed to settle a lawsuit she brought against it for breach of contract, fraud and violation of First Amendment rights.

The Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau in Evansville, Ind., agreed to settle the case for $43,383 on Friday, Feb. 11, according to Keith Sermersheim, attorney for the bureau.

Marilee Fowler was hired as executive director of the Cedar Rapids Area Convention & Visitors Bureau on March 22, 2010. She had served as executive director of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau before resigning effective March 29, 2010.

In the lawsuit filed July 9 in Indiana, Fowler alleged her former employer placed her on administrative leave on Feb. 8 after she disclosed the location of a proposed sports complex in a media interview. The Evansville convention bureau's board had told Fowler that Evansville Mayor Jonathon Weinzapfel had not wanted the information released, according to the lawsuit.

Fowler said she was told that if she resigned effective March 29, she would receive severance as spelled out in an agreement that was to be approved by the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau board. She had not received the severance payment.

Sermersheim said the board decided to offer the settlement proposed by Fowler's attorney “just to terminate the litigation.” He said the Evansville convention bureau's board has new members, and the circumstances surrounding the case happened before their arrival.

“They thought this was just a distraction and they'd rather move ahead with conducting the business of the board,” Sermersheim said. He was in the process of drafting a settlement agreement, but no agreement has yet been formalized.