Former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Spencer Collier has settled his lawsuit against former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, Bentley’s alleged mistress Rebekah Mason and the former head of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Stan Stabler and others.
The lawsuit alleged wrongful termination and defamation after Collier was dismissed from his position with the ALEA.
Collier was chosen by Bentley to lead the Alabama Department of Homeland Security in 2010 and the ALEA in 2013. Collier led the ALEA for three years before Bentley fired him in 2016. The Montgomery Advertiser first reported that the lawsuit had been settled.
After Collier was fired by Bentley, Collier held a press conference where he publicly accused Bentley of having an affair with Rebekah Mason, who was Bentley’s top adviser at the time. Bentley denied having a sexual relationship with Mason.
However, text messages released by Bentley’s former wife Dianne, who had filed for divorce two years prior, provided evidence of the affair.
The accusation sparked an impeachment investigation as well as probable cause findings by the Ethics Commission that led to Bentley’s resignation in 2017 after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor campaign finance charges.
Collier filed the lawsuit in 2016, claiming Bentley fired him because he cooperated with an investigation into Mike Hubbard, the House Speaker at that time, after Bentley directed him not to cooperate with the investigation. Bentley denied the accusation and said Collier was fired because of the possible misuse of funds and leadership issues at the ALEA.
Collier denied Bentley’s accusations and was later cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury.
