On Monday, November 10, the Denver City Council approved Resolution 185, authorizing a payment of $438,968.80 to settle claims brought against the city by ex-firefighter Bill Cadorna, who was dismissed after being falsely accused of shoplifting a cookbook. Add that amount to back pay and the amount Cardona will receive roughly matches the total in the headline of our November 7 blog "Denver Shells Out $850,000 to Settle Costly Cookback Case."
The cookbook incident has already cost Cadorna his career and the city a great deal of embarrassment, not to mention the fireworks in the courtroom over a $1.2 million jury verdict in the firefighter's favor that was later thrown out -- the subject of our 2007 feature "Blackburned." So let's just call this the most expensive recipe for a bungled termination that assorted officials at the Denver Fire Department and city attorney's office have ever devised.
To find out more about how a $20 cookbook became the focus of a major criminal investigation and some very costly backlash in federal court, you can read actual transcripts from Cadorna's age discrimination lawsuit by following the links from the feature. -- Alan Prendergast
