The City of Great Falls settled with McKenzie Lyons, a former Great Falls Police Department officer, in a wrongful termination suit she filed in federal court in December 2021.

The city and Lyons settled for $180,000 in November 2023.

The settlement is paid by Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority, the city’s insurance provider.

In the settlement, the city and Lyons agreed that, “it is understood that the above-mentioned sum is accepted as the sole consideration for full satisfaction and accord to compromise a disputed claim, and that neither the payment of the sum by the releasees nor the negotiations for settlement shall be considered as an admission of liability.”

Under the settlement and in the judge’s Dec. 1 order dismissing the case with prejudice, each party will pay their own costs and attorney’s fees.

Lyons filed her federal case against GFPD Chief Jeff Newton, Officer Travis Palmer and the city.

Lawsuit filed against GFPD over relationship between officers [2022]

Palmer has been with GFPD for more than 20 years and Lyons was hired as a probationary officer at GFPD in September 2020, according to court documents.

Lyons had previously been employed by Montana Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole and in that capacity first met Palmer on a work call in December 2018, according to court documents.

They became friends and in August 2020 began dating, according to court documents.

The relationship became toxic, according to court documents, and Lyons alleged that Palmer was physically and emotionally abusive and used GFPD resources to stalk her.

Her federal case claims a civil rights violation in that GFPD did not take her reports of abusive and concerns over Palmer’s behavior seriously and that she didn’t report the issues sooner for fear of losing her job.

In her suit, she alleged that Palmer showed up at a gas station where she was stopped while on patrol in October 2021 and asked Lyons to marry him.

After that incident, Lyons reported the incidents, as well as other issues regarding the relationship to her supervisor, according to the court documents.

Lyons alleged that GFPD did nothing to address or investigate the issues she reported and that a few weeks later, Palmer appeared to be following her while she was on patrol when he drove by as she was executing a traffic stop, according to court documents.

She reported that incident as well, according to court documents.

On Nov. 9, 2021, Lyons was terminated from GFPD.

As of March 22, 2024, Palmer is still employed at GFPD with the rank of senior police office, according to the city attorney’s office.

At the time the civil case was filed, GFPD placed additional restrictions on Palmer related to Lyons and demoted him.

In March 2022, a district court judge granted an order of protection for Lyons against Palmer for the duration of the civil litigation in federal court.

Lyons argued that she was terminated for reporting the alleged abuse and that GFPD didn’t investigate or take any action against Palmer.

At the time Lyons was hired, the collective bargaining agreement between the city and Great Falls Police Protective Association, the police union, stated, “no employee shall be discharged or reprimanded, reduced in compensation,
suspended or terminated without just cause; excluding, however, probationary employees.”

GFPD did conduct an internal investigation, according to court documents, and in the termination letter, Newton wrote that Lyons was found to have violated several GFPD policies.

In the letter, Newton wrote that he had received and reviewed the results of an internal investigation into Lyons’ conduct as a police officer, specifically regarding her actions involving Palmer.

According to a document filed by the lawyers for Palmer, Newton and the city, the investigation was conducted by Lt. Tony Munkres, who recommended that Palmer “receive significant discipline for his policy violations.”

According to the document filed by the defense, Palmer was demoted from his position as a master patrolman to senior police officer II, removed from the fugitive task force, reassigned to patrol bureau and issued time off without pay. He was also required to engage in a mandatory accountability plan in coordination with his counselor.

The investigative report was filed under seal in the federal case, meaning it is not publicly available in that case file, but is referenced in the brief filed by lawyers for Palmer, Newton and the city.

Following the filing of the federal lawsuit, the GFPD imposed additional restrictions on Palmer’s employment status, according to the brief. Those included being reassigned to the support services bureau, which is a non-enforcement administrative position.

He was “directed to have no involvement in any activities with Lyons or any members of her family, avoid any physical proximity to Lyons, have no contact with Lyons either in person, by phone, mail, text, or social media, and make no use of any GFPD official records or information systems to secure any information regarding Lyons or any member of her family. Palmer remains employed under an employment directive to not have any contact with Lyons,” according to the city’s brief.

In his letter terminating Lyons, Newton wrote that the internal investigation revealed other conduct on her part not based on the original complaint.

The termination letter also stated the investigation “indicated the existence of significant issues occurring outside the workplace, which are operational concerns for the organization. Although the investigation process could not fully corroborate all allegations concerning conduct and the inappropriate use of alcohol, the type of behavior clearly rose to the level of significant concern in the context of an internal departmental investigation,” Newton wrote, which was also a violation the code of ethics and oath office.

According to court documents, other GFPD supervisors asked Lyons in October and November 2021 if she wanted to pursue a criminal complaint, but she declined.

In December 2021, she filed the federal civil case.

“The law and the record do not support the existence of an immediate threat of irreparable injury to [Lyons]. Rather, the record establishes the couple had a toxic relationship that ended in October where both parties engaged in improper conduct,” according to court documents filed by the defense.