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Council Chairwoman Shalonda Webb delayed a vote last week on confirming longtime firefighters union official Kurt Becker for the $145,000-a-year county post.

Webb, D-North County, said she isn’t necessarily opposed to Becker but wanted to look into the lawsuit.

“We got new information that we didn’t have before,� she said after the Tuesday meeting. “I want to do my due diligence.�

On Friday, she said she had yet to decide whether to support Becker and was still weighing the suit and other issues. Three other council members — Dennis Hancock, R-Fenton; Mark Harder, R-Ballwin; and Rita Days, D-Bel-Nor — said in interviews that they agreed with the delay.

Becker, in an interview Friday, said he and his former employer had done nothing wrong and that the payments would be “perfectly legal.�

The lawsuit was filed a year ago by John Hughes, a former co-worker with Becker at IAFF Financial Corp., a Washington-based subsidiary of the International Association of Fire Fighters. The firm provides financial services and insurance products to union members.

The suit alleged that Becker, as IAFF Financial’s chief operating officer, had insisted that Hughes tell two companies seeking to be investment managers that they would be required to pay $250,000 up front to IAFF Financial “for the opportunity to do business� with the firm.

Hughes, who was then IAFF Financial’s director of investment and finance, said in his suit that such a move would amount to a “pay to play� requirement and a “kickback.� He said the two companies balked at the idea as they “did not feel that it was something they could ethically do.�

Hughes also complained about other actions taken by Becker and IAFF Financial with Baystate Financial Services, which provided wealth management services for IAFF Financial, including a payment he said Baystate was to make to IAFF Financial.

Hughes alleged that he was fired by IAFF Financial for “refusing to participate in unlawful and unethical misconduct� and for reporting to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission what he “reasonably believed were violations� of federal law and SEC regulation.

A SEC spokesman said the agency doesn’t comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible whistleblower submission.

IAFF Financial, in a court filing in the case last May, denied that IAFF Financial or any of its employees, including Becker, “ever contemplated participating in unlawful or improper conduct.� IAFF Financial also denied claims by Hughes about his firing.

Becker said Friday that the type of payments Hughes complained about are commissions and took place legally with Baystate only after “appropriate registrations� to conduct certain types of business were approved by the SEC.

Hughes alleges in the suit that Baystate and IAFF Financial were discussing arranging to have the Baystate payment made prior to the SEC approval.

Listed as defendants in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, are IAFF Financial, Baystate and a Baystate executive, David Porter. Becker also was originally listed as a defendant, but an attorney for Hughes last May filed a motion removing Becker.

The motion said Hughes planned to file a suit against Becker individually in federal court in Washington, D.C. But as of Friday, court filings did not show such a suit.

Hughes in the suit seeks damages of at least $1.5 million plus reinstatement to his job. The suit alleges wrongful termination by IAFF Financial and defamation by Baystate and the Baystate executive.

In a court filing, Baystate and Porter denied Hughes’ allegations and said his “incompetence and impertinence� led to IAFF Financial’s decision to fire him. They filed a counterclaim against Hughes.

Becker, 52, worked for IAFF Financial from mid-2021 through December of last year. From 2004 to 2021, he was vice president of the Professional Firefighters of Eastern Missouri. He also was a Clayton firefighter from 1999 to 2021. Page tapped him to succeed Karen Aroesty, who resigned in October.

Becker said his resignation from the IAFF Financial job had nothing to do with the suit.

He said he had a “wonderful experience� working there but grew tired of commuting each weekend to St. Louis to be with his family and had “mutually agreed� with his superiors several months earlier to leave at the end of last year.

Doug Moore, a spokesman for the county executive, said Page discussed the suit with Becker and “was satisfied with his explanation.�

Moore added that “Kurt is a highly qualified candidate.�