Green Bay settles eavesdropping lawsuit with two plaintiffs as legal bills top $1 million

GREEN BAY - The city has settled with two plaintiffs and a federal judge dismissed a third plaintiff, bringing an end to a federal lawsuit over the installation of audio recording devices in Green Bay City Hall that has cost taxpayers more than $1 million.

Former City Council member Tony Theisen, one of the plaintiffs in the September 2023 lawsuit, agreed to release his claims in exchange for a $100,000 payment from the city, attorneys for Theisen confirmed in June.

And on Thursday, state Sen. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, announced he also agreed to release his claim against the city and Mayor Eric Genrich in exchange for a $200,000 payment to the Wisconsin Senate and a declaration from the city it will not resume or reinstall listening devices.

"This is a landmark win for protecting our civil liberties, and exactly what we demanded from the very beginning:  a guarantee from Mayor Genrich that he will no longer spy on his citizens," Jacque said in a media release.

Neither Jacque nor Theisen's release of claims or settlements have been filed in the federal case file yet.

Attorneys for the city and Genrich confirmed the Green Bay City Council approved the settlements with Theisen and Jacque to bring an end to the lawsuit. They said once the plaintiffs sign the stipulated dismissal, it will be filed in the federal case file. The lawyers said the city maintains its actions were lawful but settled to prevent further waste of taxpayer funds.

"The city maintains its actions were lawful and were undertaken with the safety and security of city staff and members of the public in mind," they wrote in an email. "With this settlement, the Senate will agree to stop spending state taxpayer dollars to fund further legal actions against the city related to this matter."

Theisen said he filed suit after he had a conversation recorded while attending a City Council meeting in September 2022. He released a statement saying he feels vindicated by the settlement and the federal court’s holding that “general concern for public safety is not a lawful basis for the continuous and ongoing interception of private conversations” as defined by the state and U.S. Constitutions.

“I hope this outcome sends a clear message that invasions of privacy won’t be ignored and that those responsible for undermining civil rights will be held accountable,” Theisen said in the statement. “I also expect my settlement to encourage other Green Bay citizens to speak out against the secret audio surveillance devices implemented by Mayor Genrich.”

The settlement is the latest, notable development in the 18 months since the controversial recording devices became public knowledge in February 2023.

Here’s what to know.

How we got here

The Genrich administration between winter 2021 and summer 2022 installed audio recording devices in the first- and second-floor hallways in response to three reports of verbal assaults in the six-story building.

City Council members in February 2023 sought answers from Genrich about the surveillance equipment in City Hall and raised concerns about them. Genrich’s office defended the installation of the devices, noting similar audio recording devices were in place at Metro Transit and the Green Bay Police Department offices. It also on Feb. 10, 2023, published a City Hall Security fact sheet that included plans to install signs notifying the public of the audio recording devices.

Jacque, Theisen, a “Jane Doe” later identified as local attorney Janet Angus, and the Wisconsin Senate in February 2023 filed a lawsuit against Genrich and the city in Brown County Circuit Court alleging the recording devices violated citizens' expectation of privacy because the public did not know it was being recorded.

On March 2, 2023, Brown County Judge Marc Hammer ordered the city to stop recording audio in City Hall, but stopped short of the plaintiffs’ request to destroy all audio recordings.

The Green Bay City Council on March 7, 2023, voted to remove the audio recording devices from City Hall, ordered all audio recordings destroyed and put itself in charge of any recording devices in City Hall.

Jacque, Theisen and the state Senate in September moved the case to federal court, filing a similar lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Wisconsin that Judge William Griesbach continues to hear.

Judge dismissed Wisconsin Senate as a plaintiff

Earlier this year, the city and Genrich requested the judge dismiss the Wisconsin Senate as a plaintiff due to a lack of standing.

Standing basically means you have suffered an injury that gives you reason to sue another person or organization.

In this case, the city argued the Senate had not suffered any injury that would give it grounds to sue the city and Genrich. The plaintiffs argued the state Senate needs to ensure municipalities do not act beyond the scope of their authority and that since at least one plaintiff had cause to sue, the need for standing was satisfied for all parties.

On Feb. 27, Griesbach sided with the city and dismissed the state Senate from the case.

Legal bills paid by Green Bay and Wisconsin taxpayers now top $1 million, total costs higher

The state Senate and the city as of late May had spent more than $1 million combined of taxpayer dollars on legal bills.

Even after the state Senate was dismissed, it continued to pay the plaintiffs' legal bills. Bungert said the plaintiffs' legal bills as of May 20 exceeded $823,000. Green Bay's legal expenses through May 20 exceeded $254,000.

The combination of the legal bills and the two settlements for $100,000 and $200,000 bring the total costs borne by taxpayers to $1.3 million.

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay to pay $300,000 to two plaintiffs, settles eavesdropping lawsuit