The Invercargill City Council and Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt are going to court.
Invercargill City Council chief executive Clare Hadley said yesterday the decision was made at a meeting on Tuesday to lay a defence against the mayor after he filed papers earlier this month.
Earlier this month, Ms Hadley confirmed the amount Sir Tim was seeking was $448,000.
‘‘On 6 March 2020, Sir Tim’s lawyers served a statement of claim on council requesting payment of his costs incurred and an indemnity under section 43 of the Local Government Act,’’ Ms Hadley said yesterday.
The costs relate to Sir Tim’s successful defence of a defamation case brought by Karen Arnold.
At the defamation court case in 2018, Ms Arnold alleged Sir Tim and Stuff had defamed her through comments made by Sir Tim in four opinion columns published by The Southland Times newspaper in 2014 and 2015.
Ms Arnold was ordered to pay costs of $186,000 to each party, but she was subsequently adjudicated bankrupt.
Sir Tim then approached the council to pay the costs for defending the claims.
Under section 43 of the Local Government Act 2002, councillors are able to claim indemnity for actions taken on behalf of council in certain circumstances.
The council and its insurance company declined to pay in March last year.
It was expected that the normal court process would follow the filing of the defence, Ms Hadley said.
