VERMILION PARISH (ABBEVILLE) — An ongoing copy between the City of Abbeville and 11 of its police officers is set to go to trial next Monday, following nearly two years of legal back-and-forth.
During Tuesday night’s city council meeting, City Attorney Bart Broussard announced he was retracting a previous council action related to the case.
“We are withdrawing and revoking the action that was taken during that meeting, due to a clerical error that I made,” Broussard said.
The dispute stems from a December 2023 lawsuit filed by 11 Abbeville police officers, who allege that the city failed to calculate their pay in accordance with Louisiana state law—stating that senior officers are entitled to higher wages based on their years of service and rank.
In February, a judge ruled in favor of the officers, finding that the city’s current pay schedule violated state law. On Oct. 7, the city council rejected a settlement offer from the plaintiffs.
“Uh, I understand that we are doing this to repeat that in the public eye?” Broussard Jr. asked during Tuesday's meeting.
“The agenda — it should’ve listed the case, it’s just a technicality — so I’m just asking the council to revoke and rescind that action we took,” he said.
Broussard did not specify the nature of the clerical error but said more details would be provided during the trial.
“There’s no need to readdress it because the trial is scheduled for Monday…it was merely a technicality on the agenda,” he said.
The trial is scheduled to begin Monday morning (Nov. 11) at the Vermilion Parish Courthouse in Abbeville.
