Former U.S. attorney Kat Dahl’s wrongful firing lawsuit against Johnson City postponed
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — A judge has postponed former federal prosecutor Kateri “Kat” Dahl’s wrongful termination lawsuit against Johnson City from mid-May to late October so she can have more time to rule on a dismissal motion.
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Previously set to begin May 14, the federal civil trial is now scheduled to start Oct. 22 at U.S. District Court in Knoxville, with an estimated five to 10-day duration.
Dahl’s June 2022 federal civil lawsuit (since amended) also names former Johnson City Police Chief Karl Turner as a separate defendant. It claims Johnson City violated the Tennessee Public Protection Act (TPPA) by allegedly firing Dahl in retaliation for insisting the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) investigate sexual assault allegations against Sean Williams.
Williams, whom Dahl indicted in April 2021 for being a felon in possession of ammunition, evaded an effort to serve that indictment in May 2021 and was wanted for nearly two years before being arrested on drug charges in Cullowhee, N.C. April 30, 2023. An investigation into that incident allegedly yielded large amounts of video and photo evidence in Williams’ possession showing him sexually assaulting more than 50 different women in his Johnson City apartment.
The City and Turner both filed what are known as motions for summary judgment on Jan. 16.
Summary judgment relies on legal arguments related to statutes, as opposed to more granular factual debates that occur when cases go to trial. Tuesday’s motions claim that Dahl doesn’t have a legal basis for the claims she’s made and that they should therefore be summarily dismissed.
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Judge Katherine Crytzer, who will hear the case if it goes to trial, filed a new scheduling order Friday. She noted that since the Jan. 16 summary judgment filing, the two sides have filed several additional motions that took time for her to work through.
“This does not leave the Court enough time to adjudicate Defendant Turner’s ‘Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings and for Summary Judgment’ and Defendant Johnson City’s ‘Motion for Summary Judgment’ in advance of trial,” Crytzer wrote.
Turner claimed qualified immunity in his summary judgment motion — a defense that protects state and local officials from individual liability unless they violated a clearly established constitutional right — as well as claiming there was a legitimate reason for Dahl’s July 2021 dismissal.
Turner and the city deny all claims in Dahl’s lawsuit, as well as a related suit filed in June 2023 on behalf of alleged sexual assault victims of Sean Williams.
Williams faces federal child pornography production charges stemming from additional alleged digital evidence found on him when he was arrested April 30, as well as federal attempted escape and escape charges from incidents in July and October 2023, respectively. His first trial, on the escape charges, is scheduled to begin May 14 in Greeneville.
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He’s also been charged in state court with child rape related to the same alleged videos and photos. No rape or sexual assault charges against alleged adult victims have yet been filed against him.
Crytzer’s new scheduling order in Dahl’s lawsuit sets numerous other deadlines before the actual trial date. A final pretrial conference is Oct. 8, and Crytzer’s order also references the federal mediation program and says both parties “shall consider utilization” of it.
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