A state workers group has reimbursed Richard Moore's office.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina paid the state treasurer's office $6,000 in legal fees over a public records dispute that led to a lawsuit.

During the lawsuit, SEANC tried to set up a deposition of Moore shortly before one of his debates in the gubernatorial primary. A Superior Court judge denied the motion, giving Moore the right to reimbursement of legal fees related to it.

"It is unfortunate that this unnecessary lawsuit has cost SEANC members, who are hardworking state employees, so much money and energy," said Moore spokeswoman Sara Lang.

Another Superior Court judge dismissed the case in July, but SEANC has appealed it to the N.C. Court of Appeals. General Counsel Tom Harris was asked how far the group would appeal the case.

"As far as we have to," he replied.

An attorney for a state workers' group said he will not defend himself today.

As a lawyer for the State Employees Association of North Carolina, Tom Harris proposed dropping a public records lawsuit against state Treasurer Richard Moore if Moore would back a bill SEANC supports.

In a hearing on the suit in Wake County Superior Court today, Harris brought an outside attorney and said he would not talk much about his own actions yet.

"If this case should mushroom into a criminal proceeding or a bar hearing, I would like to defend myself in that context," he said.

However, Harris said he had a different take on SEANC's settlement offer. 

An attorney for Richard Moore said a proposal by a state workers' group "set off alarms."

Standing before Wake County Superior Court Judge Jim Hardin this morning, Raleigh attorney Kieran Shanahan said that he was surprised by an alleged proposal from an attorney for the State Employees Association of North Carolina to drop a lawsuit in exchange for Moore's support of a bill.

In a motion, Shanahan argued that SEANC attorney Tom Harris tried to bribe them in a phone call and a subsequent e-mail to him.

"It became clear that their political motivation for bringing the suit was to somehow effect policy-making and laws," he said, adding later, "It is outrageous, it is offensive and it's in violation of the law."

Shanahan said he felt "duty bound" to report Harris' alleged proposal to the judge as well as the North Carolina Bar under the "rules of professional responsibility."

He also echoed earlier arguments in the case that SEANC's attorneys have failed to identify any public records that Moore's office failed to produce in response to a request last year.

SEANC has said that the case is not politically motivated.

Lawyers for state Treasurer Richard Moore have called for a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a group representing state workers.

In a motion filed in Wake County Superior Court, Raleigh attorney Kieran Shanahan claims that an attorney for the State Employees Association of North Carolina offered to drop a public records lawsuit in exchange for Moore's support for a bill.

The legislation, House Bill 2758, would give a board of trustees control over the state employee's pension fund instead of the state treasurer. Moore, who leaves office in January, opposed a similar bill in the past.

In the motion, Shanahan claims that on June 9 SEANC attorney Tom Harris said in a phone call and a subsequent e-mail that the group would settle the lawsuit if Moore would send a letter to every state legislator urging them to pass the bill, ask House Speaker Joe Hackney to schedule a vote and tesitfy in favor of the bill, among other things.

"Clearly, Plaintiff and its counsel Tom Harris have attempted to engage in a explicit quid pro quo arrangement," Shanahan wrote in the motion, arguing that amounts to bribery of a public official.

The motion will be heard in an emergency hearing this morning.

SEANC filed the lawsuit against Moore in late January, charging that the state treasurer had failed to turn over public records it sought. Moore, then running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, countered that the suit politically motivated.

Hat tip: Mark Johnson