Nashville, Tenn. (TN Tribune)–Metro is nearing a $25,000 settlement with Robert Green, the former Nashville General Sessions Court probation director fired by Judge Lynda Jones in 2019.
Green sued Metro and Jones in 2020, alleging that Jones used news reports about Green’s collaboration with federal immigration authorities as pretext to improperly dismiss him.
The information sharing policy was approved by the Metro Legal Department and was not Green’s initiative, Judge Melissa Blackburn told Metro Council members. According to a Metro analysis, Jones unilaterally decided to terminate Green without consulting the other judges after he returned from medical leave.
The resolution approving the settlement is on the consent agenda for the Tuesday night Metro Council meeting. If approved, the city would pay Green $25,000, with $15,000 of the total reflecting back pay and to come from the court’s operating budget with the remainder coming from the city’s judgments and losses fund.
Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz told the Post that he believes “this settlement is in Metro’s best interest, which is why I recommended it to Council.”
Jones is separately represented in the case by attorneys from Baker Donelson. It’s unclear whether a second settlement has been reached directly between Green and Jones.
Jones declined to comment. Legal counsel for Green did not respond to a request for comment.
