By
Denny
Walsh
--Bee
Staff
Writer
-(Published
September
5,2002)
The
turmoil
that
has
engulfed
Yuba
County's
health
and
welfare
services
for
more
than
a
year
has
landed
in
federal
court
in
Sacramento.
The
county's
chief
medical
officer,
Dr.
Joseph
Cassady,
who
was
accused
of
being
a
drug
dealer
by
another
county
official
and
then
cleared,
stepped
up
his
counteroffensive
with
a
lawsuit
against
the
county,
one
of
its
supervisors
and
three
of
its
former
officials.
Cassady,
a
fourth-generation
native
of
the
area,
contends
that
the
defendants'
deep-
seated
antipathy
toward
his
Christian
beliefs
and
associations
prompted
a
smear
campaign
meant
to
run
him
out
of
office
and
out
of
the
county.
"The
integrity
that
goes
along
with
being
a
Christian
was
threatening
to
them,"
Cassady
said
in
an
interview
Wednesday.
Three
defendants
--
Mike
Noda,
who
directed
the
county's
Health
and
Human
Services
Department,
and
his
two
top
aides,
Beverly
Craig
and
Carolyn
Williams
--have
all
been
fired
by
the
Board
of
Supervisors
as a
result
of
their
clash
-with
Cassady.
Defendant
Mary
Jane
Griego,
accused
by
Cassady
of
conspiring
with
the
trio,
is
still
a
member
of
the
board.
Sacramento
attorney
Jill
Telfer,
who
represents
Noda,
Craig
a.nd
Williams,
said
her
clients
are
preparing
to
sue
the
county
and
Cassady.
"They
had
a
good-faith
belief
that
he
was
viola,ting
the
law,
they
did
what
they
thought
was
necessary,
and
they
were
retaliated
against,"
she
said.
Cassady
discriminated
against
Craig,
who
is
African
American,
based
on
her
race,
and
against
Williams
based
on
her
gender,
Telfer
said.
Her
clients
"don't
have
a
problem
with
{Cassady's)
religious
yiews,"
she
insisted.
Their
problem
is
with
the
way
he
blurs
the
line
between
those
views
and
his
official
duties,
she
added.
Noda,
Craig
and
Williams
have
formed
a
consulting
service
specializing
in
government
grants
and
legislative
programs.
Craig
said
she
and
her
colleagues
"are
the
ones
who
have
suffered
due
to
misconduct,
corruption
and
cover-up
by
the
county
.It's
awful
that
residents
have
to
pay
the
price.
"To
tell
you
the.truth,
I'm
a
little
fed
up
with
this
guy's
crap,"
Craig
said
of
Cassady.
"He's
a
crafty
,
intelligent
strategist,
very
manipulative."
Yuba
County
Counsel
Daniel
Montgomery
was
unavailable
for
comment,
and
County
Administrator
Kent
McClain
did
not
return
calls.
Griego,
who
is a
waitress
at
her
father's
Olivehurst
eatery
,
Duke's
Diner,
said
she
is
"happy
the
true
story
will
finally
come
out,"
but
she
lamented
the
suit
as
"an
unfortunate
distraction
from
real
issues
the
county
must
deal
with."
"It's
one
thing
to
sue,
it's
another
to
win,"
she
observed.
Cassady
"is
-'still
working.
If
there
are
damages,
I'd
like
to
see
them."
Cassady
alleges
his
constitutional
guarantees
of
religious
freedom,
due
process
and
equal
protection
were
trampled.
He
seeks
an
unspecified
amount
of
monetary.
compensation.
The
suit
was
filed
Tuesday
by
Sacramento
attorney
Bradley
Benbrook,
a
member
of
the
Stevens
&
O'Connell
firm
headed
by
two
former
U.
S.
attorneys.
It
comes
after
the
county
rejected
Cassady's
$4
million
administrative
claim.
Formal
claims
by
Noda,
Craig
and
Williams
have
also
been
rebuffed
by
the
county.
Cassady
recounts
three
incidents
in
his
suit
that
he
says
illustrates
the
"vicious"
nature
of
the-campaign
against
him.
In
the
summer
of
2001,
the
suit
says,
Rev.
Michael
Sterling
was
convinced
by
Noda,
Craig
and
political
activist
Edward
Fleming
to
sign
a
letter
to
the
state
Osteopathic
Medical
Board
complaining
about
the
conduct
of
Cassady,
who
is
an
osteopath.
Before
the
letter
was
sent
to
the
state
board,
but
after
Sterling
had
given
it
to
Noda,
Sterling
and
Cassady
settled
their
differences,
the
suit
says.
Sterling
delivered
a
written
withdrawal
of
his
complaint
to
County
Counsel
Montgomery,
it
says.
The
defendants
were
all
aware
of
the
withdrawal,
yet
Noda
sent
the
lett~r
to
the
state
board,
the
suit
alleges.
When
Sterling
learned
of
this,
he
notified
the
board
that
the
letter
was
sent
without
his
knowledge.
Noda
wrote
to
the
state
Bureau
of
Narcotics
Enforcement
(BNE)
in
January
asking
for
an
investigation
of
Cassady's
"unlawful
practices,"
and
citing
"his
distribution
of
narcotic
drugs
from
the
Yuba
County
jail
and
the
Twin
Cities
Rescue
Mission."
Griego
made
the
same
allegations
in a
follow-up
telephone
call
to
state
Attorney
General
Bill
Lockyer.
Spokesman
Nathan
Barankin
said
Wednesday
that
Lockyer
"passed
it
on
to
BNE
with
no
instructiqn.
except
to
do
what
they
do
--that
is,
check
things
out."
There
followed
a
joint
investigation
of
Cassady
by
BNE
and
the
federal
Drug
Enforcement
Administration.
In a
March
letter
to
Noda
with
copies
to
Griego
and
Yuba
County
Sheriff
Virginia
Black,
Lockyer
reported
that
the
probe
"failed
to
reveal
any
factual
basis
in
support
of
(the)
allegations."
While
the
investigation
exonerated
him,
Cassady
said
in
the
interview
"there
will
always
be a
stain
on
my
reputation.
It
put
a
tremendous
strain
on
my
whole
family.
I
had
to
defend
myself
against
groundless
charg~s.
It
ruined
my
credibility
with
patients."
The
suit
says
that
Noda
contacted
Cassady
on
Feb.
2.3,
the
day
after
Noda
was'
placed
on
paid
administrative
leave,
and
"admitted
that
he
made
untrue
allegations
about
Cassady.
Noda
said
he
hoped
to
be
able
to
tell
Cassady
more.
...'in
about
six
months.'
"
Asked
about
this
Wednesday,
Noda
would
only
say:
"That
will
be
real
clear
in
the
courtroom.
I'm
confident
this
lawsuit
is
goin~
to
be
found
totally
baseless."
The
suit
also
alleges
that
Craig
wrote
an
anonymous
letter
in
December
to
the
state
Department
of
Health
Services
accusing
Cassady
of
multiple
sources
~f
undiscjosed
income.
Craig
declined
Wednesday
to
comment
on
the
letter.
