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SACRAMENTO LAWYER NEWS
Yuba settles staff lawsuit for $750,000
Harold Kruger Three Yuba County employees fired in 2002 after they asked the state to investigate the county’s health officer have settled their federal lawsuit for $750,000. Mike Noda, the Health and Human Services director; Beverly Craig, the deputy director; and Carolyn Williams, a program manager, will share the award. The County on Tuesday released a copy of the settlement in response to a California Public Records Act request. “It was resolved to the satisfaction of my clients,” said Daniel O’Donnell a Sacramento attorney. Noda was dismissed in April 2002. Craig and Williams were fired a few months earlier. All three has asked the state to investigate Health Officer Joseph Cassady. Attorney General Bill Lockyer later cleared Cassady. Last September, U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell Jr. ruled that a jury could reasonably find that Yuba County violated the First Amendment rights of Noda, Craig and Williams. Damrell said they engaged in “protected speech” when they sent a letter to the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement listing alleged improprieties by Cassady. The county did not demonstrate that Craig, Noda and Williams “acted recklessly or in bad faith in writing the letter to the BNE,” Damrell said in his decision. “(They) acted upon specific complaints about Cassady which involved official government wrongdoing. Damrell, in his ruling, said the letter to BNE was “speech… specifically protected by California statute” and covered “a matter of public concern.” The county acknowledged that the three employees “were terminated because of the letter,” Damrell said in his decision. Last December, following a mediation session, the lawsuit was resolved. Noda, Craig and Williams signed the settlement last month. Supervisor Mary Jane Griego signed the document for the county last week. County Counsel Dan Montgomery said the county will pay $100,000 out of its liability fund. The rest will be covered by the Excess Insurance Authority of the California State Association of Counties. Yuba County is a CSAC member: Montgomery declined further comment. The settlement includes a confidentiality clause that bars the parties from publicly discussing the settlement, other than to acknowledge “the matters were resolved.” The settlement also allows Noda, Craig and Williams to “voluntarily resign” as of the dates they were fired. In addition the county agreed to remove from their personnel files “documents related to (their) discipline by termination.” The settlement noted that Yuba County “categorically denied” all the assertions that Noda, Craig and Williams made in their lawsuit, filed in October 2002. The county and the former employees “desire to resolve the mutually disputed claims and avoid the further expense and distraction of litigation,” according to the settlement. The document did not indicate how Noda, Craig and Williams will divvy up the settlement. O’Donnell declined to comment. Cassady sued the county, Noda, Williams and Craig in 2002, alleging his civil rights were violated. His main allegation was that he was falsely accused of dealing drugs in the jail and in the community, and taking kickbacks from pharmacies. Cassady settled his case for $310,000. The county paid $100,000 from its liability find. The remaining $210,000 came from the CSAC Excess Insurance Authority. IT IS IMPORTANT TO PROTECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.
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