Arkansas Treasurer Dennis Milligan and his Chief of Staff Jim Harris have agreed to mediation in a defamation lawsuit filed by a fired treasurer's office employee.
Attorneys for former outreach manager David Singer and attorney general's office attorneys representing Milligan and Harris said Tuesday that they had reached an agreement for mediation late Monday night.
Milligan was not present during a hearing in Pulaski County Circuit Court Tuesday because of unspecified medical issues. Reached by phone, Harris declined to comment on the mediation.
Lucien Gillham, an attorney for Singer, says he hopes the mediation will alleviate damage to Singer's reputation.
The lawsuit filed late last month alleges that Harris published false statements about Singer's mental health to co-workers and others. Milligan was added to the lawsuit last week.
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The defamation suit follows other inquiries this year into the Treasurer’s office over the hiring of a relative and campaign related work from a non-profit e-mail address. After a workforce development meeting in Little Rock Governor Asa Hutchinson said his office is not looking into the Treasurer’s affairs.
“No, not at all. We have a form of government in Arkansas that gives independence to each constitutional officer. They’re elected on their own right. That’s not my job or prerogative, or responsibility to oversee any of those. Obviously you want well managed offices. That’s something that’s a side issue and I’m going to leave that to the Treasurer,” said Hutchinson.
Earlier this month the Jefferson County GOP Committee called on Milligan to resign from office.
