(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)
The decision by top Whitehall city officials to block incoming emails from the local FOP union — now the subject of a federal lawsuit — was a First Amendment violation and the block should be lifted, the city’s attorney warned during a Whitehall City Council meeting in September.
The Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9 filed a lawsuit Oct. 31 in U.S. District Court in Columbus against the city of Whitehall over the decision — the latest development in a long-running feud between top Whitehall officials and the local police union.
The suit names Whitehall police Chief Mike Crispen and Whitehall Mayor Michael Bivens as defendants. In addition to the FOP local, Brian Steel, the union’s president, is listed as a plaintiff.
Steel initially declined to comment on the suit when The Dispatch contacted him.
In a later statement, Steel said what he called “Crispen’s long history of anti-union sentiment and failed leadership will be dealt with using every legal means available.”
“This is not about emails, it’s about the First Amendment,” Steel said. “The government works for the people, not the other way around. This type of censorship reeks of corruption, cover-up, and an attempt to silence critics and those committed to public service.”
Gayle Saunders, a Whitehall spokesperson, said that city officials hadn’t been “formally presented with or made aware of this lawsuit” and did not have any information to share.
Lawsuit alleges Whitehall police chief had emails from police union blocked
The suit accuses Crispen of instructing the city’s IT director to block incoming emails to the city from not only Steel’s email address but the email addresses of all FOP Local No. 9 board members and its grievance representatives. The block prevented FOP members from emailing union members of Whitehall police, as well as the city’s civilian employees, according to the suit.
The suit alleges that on Feb. 7, Steel tried to email FOP members and deputy chiefs at Whitehall police in an attempt to dispel a rumor regarding an incident from the day before. Crispen is accused in the suit of instructing the city’s IT director to block all emails that came from Steel’s email address.
Because of this, Steel was unable to email anyone in the city of Whitehall or the FOP’s members who work for Whitehall police. The block also prevented the union from emailing City Council members and the city attorney, according to the suit.
The lawsuit accuses the city and its police division of violating the FOP’s First and 14th Amendment rights and asks a judge to order the city to lift the email ban preventing union members from emailing the city. The suit also asks attorney’s fees be awarded to the plaintiffs.
City attorney warned that email block was unconstitutional
Whitehall City Attorney Brad Nicodemus warned during a City Council meeting in September that the email ban was unconstitutional and should be lifted, something that is cited in the FOP lawsuit. The meeting was one of several where the legality of the ban was discussed, the lawsuit states.
Council member Gerald Dixon told City Council during its Sept. 9 meeting that he had been blocked from getting emails from the FOP and said he was surprised because he had been getting its emails for the past three years. Larry Morrison, who heads the board’s public safety committee, called the block censorship.
Nicodemus said that he was also blocked from receiving emails and said he had “concerns about the city blocking an entire organization.”
“I’m not very happy at the moment,” Nicodemus said of the ban.
On Sept. 23, the City Council again met and discussed the email ban. Nicodemus explicity told council members that the ban was a First Amendment violation and said that the city should lift it.
Bivens was present at the meeting and defended the email block, saying that he was adhering to contract language in the collective bargaining agreement, according to the suit. He did not explain what language in the contract he was following.
City Council met again Oct. 28. Bivens announced that City Council members would be allowed to send emails to the police union, according to the suit.
However, the lawsuit alleges that Steel attempted on Oct. 29 to email four council members, but both of those emails were blocked, according to the suit. He was only able to successfully email both Bivens and Crispen, the suit states.
The suit states that due to the ban, union officials have had to find other ways to communicate with FOP members.
“Until the ban is lifted, (the FOP, Steel) — and the over 4,000 law enforcement officers on whose behalf they speak — will be unable to engage in the advocacy and core political speech enjoyed by every other citizen or labor organization,” the suit states.
(This story was updated to to add new information, to change or add a photo or video and to meet our standards.)
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at @ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Local FOP union files federal lawsuit against Whitehall mayor, police chief for email block
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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