The lawyer representing Butler Mayor Tom Donaldson in a lawsuit against the city and three council members said he intends to file an amended complaint unless the matter can be settled out of court.

Attorney Larry Rodgers said the new complaint — which would add council member Kenny Bonus, firefighters Donald McCoy and James Kaufman, and the firefighters union as defendants — would likely be filed by May 26.

But that's only if Rodgers and attorney Leo Stepanian, who is representing the city and council members, can't come to an out-of-court settlement. Rodgers said Monday that he intended to present Stepanian with a written proposal later that day. He declined Monday to discuss specifics of the proposed settlement.

Rodgers' comments come after county Judge Marilyn Horan ruled earlier this month that Donaldson — who is claiming that promotions given to McCoy and Kaufman violated the city's civil service code — must add the firefighters, Bonus and the union as defendants, or have his lawsuit dismissed with no recourse to refile.

In her ruling, which was issued May 8, Horan said that Bonus, the firefighters and the union all have a right to be named parties in the lawsuit because they have vested interests in the outcome. Bonus' position on council means that he would be required to take action in response to any decision in the case, Horan ruled, and both the individual firefighters and the union have “vested property rights” in the case.

Horan's ruling was in response to preliminary objections filed last December by the defendants in the case — council members Mike Walter, Kathy Kline and Corey Roche. They had asked Horan to dismiss Donaldson's lawsuit outright.

Horan gave Rodgers 20 days — until May 28 — to file an amended complaint.

Rodgers said that Donaldson continues to believe the dispute, which revolves around whether the city should be able to require civil service testing that isn't spelled out in the fire department's current collective bargaining agreement, is in the city's best interest.

“The mayor is steadfast in his proposition that he's acting in the best, long-term interest of the taxpayers of the city,” Rodgers said. “The [lawsuit] wasn't a political move or motivated by anything other than doing the right thing for the city.”