Clark County has authorized a $1.4 million settlement with three former employees who claimed wrongful termination in a lawsuit from 2016.
On Sept. 15, the county announced the authorization of the agreement between it and Don Benton, Christopher Clifford and Susan Rice, who filed the suit after the department they worked for, the Department of Environmental Services, dissolved in May 2016.
The county’s announcement stated the settlement “fully and finally resolves” pending claims from the three plaintiffs, and coverage claims between the county and its insurance carriers.
Clark County’s insurance carriers’ share of the settlement will be about $1 million of the total settlement amount, with the county picking up the rest.
The settlement follows a jury ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in May, where the three were awarded close to $700,000. The county appealed the ruling, and entered into negotiations with the plaintiffs and insurance carriers, Clark County Manager Kathleen Otto said in a statement.
As part of the settlement, all claims by the plaintiffs have been dismissed, including those that led to the verdict, Otto said, which means the county will only pay the settlement and not the jury award. The $1.4 million settlement also includes attorney fees.
“(T)he settlement agreement provides no admission of wrongdoing, and any and all claims regarding this matter are considered resolved,” Otto said.
The plaintiff’s suit argued they were fired in part due to their allegations of financial wrongdoing, as retaliation. The department they worked for was dissolved in May 2016 a few weeks after Benton made a whistleblower complaint against then-county manager Mark McCauley, who himself was fired by the county in 2017.
In the whistleblower complaint the plaintiffs said led to McCauley’s retaliation, Benton accused the former county manager of violating hiring and firing practices found in the county’s charter, misusing funds, violating the Open Public Meetings Act and interfering with Benton’s handling of his department. The plaintiffs also argued Clifford and Rice had reported “intimidating behavior” at the hands of McCauley to their supervisors, which allegedly was a motivational factor in the county’s decision to fire the trio.
