Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam settled a $5,000 lawsuit two days before he was set to go to trial.
Meredith Godfrey claimed Gilliam — with whom she had a “close personal relationship,” according to the suit —borrowed $5,000 from her Aug. 17, and never paid it back.
Gilliam told her the money was to pay an attorney for trademark advice regading a tourism slogan for Atlantic City. It was never made clear why he would be paying for a city expense.
The case was set to go to trial Thursday, but on Wednesday, Godfrey’s attorney submitted a letter to the court asking that the trial be adjourned and the case marked “settled.”
No details of the settlement were filed.
Godfrey’s attorney, Michael Testa Jr., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Godfrey is believed to have been at the center of a nightclub fight involving Gilliam and Councilman Jeffree Fauntleroy.
Godfrey is director of nightlife entertainment at the Haven Nightclub, where the altercation with three employees occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 11.
Fauntleroy pleaded to a charge of impeding traffic. Complaints signed against Gilliam were dropped at a court appearance Feb. 28. Days later, Godfrey filed her suit in Atlantic County Civil Court.
“We tried to collect without having to go to court,” Godfrey’s previous attorney, former Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, told BreakingAC.
The suit makes no mention of the Nov. 11 altercation, Godfrey was at the club that night and can be seen in surveillance video previously released to the media.
