Lawsuit against FLDS Church, Jeffs and Hildale shop settled

A federal lawsuit against the Fundamentalist LDS Church, its leader, and a Hildale cabinetmaking shop has been abruptly settled.

Shem Fischer's discrimination lawsuit against Forestwood Co., was settled late last week, attorneys said. It also ends years of litigation and dogged collections against FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.

"It wraps it all up," James Stewart, an attorney for Fischer, told the Deseret News early Monday. "I'm not going to comment on the terms of it."

Forestwood attorney Rod Parker also declined to comment on the financial settlement.

Fischer claimed in his 2002 lawsuit that he was unfairly and illegally fired because he and another shop employee were no longer members of the polygamous sect at a time when FLDS leaders ordered faithful followers to cut ties with those who were no longer a part of the church. The lawsuit was later amended to include the FLDS Church and its current leader, Warren Jeffs, who defaulted on it.

Fischer pursued Jeffs to collect the money he claimed he was owed. In 2007, Fischer's attorneys waded into the evidence seized when Jeffs, who was a fugitive on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, was arrested in a traffic stop outside Las Vegas. They served the FBI with court papers seeking some of the items found in the Cadillac Escalade that Jeffs was riding in, including cell phones, iPods and cash.

After years in the federal court system, the case against Forestwood was set to go to trial beginning March 9. But lawyers drafted a settlement at midnight Thursday. The case will be reviewed again in October to see if the terms of the settlement are being adhered to, according to a document filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

"The settlement agreement requires performance prior to that date, but also contemplates that the case will remain open until performance is completed. The parties expect that this case will be dismissed pursuant to stipulation of the parties prior to Sept. 30, 2009," Stewart and Parker wrote in the settlement filing.

E-MAIL: bwinslow@desnews.com