- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
County of Lake settles former HR director’s discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The county of Lake has reached a settlement with its former Human Resources director who sued alleging wrongful termination and racial discrimination.
The Board of Supervisors approved the settlement with Pamela Nichols following a closed session discussion at Tuesday’s board meeting.
The announcement was reportedly made in open session, once the board had returned from its confidential discussion of the matter, but the county said the Zoom link was not operating at the time.
As a result, on Wednesday, the county posted a video of Board of Supervisors Chair EJ Crandell announcing the settlement approval vote.
Crandell said the board unanimously approved the agreement, in the amount of $500,000.
“The county will accept Ms. Nichols’ resignation in lieu of prior action, will ensure training in the discrimination harassment complaint process, continue its ongoing process of implementing cultural awareness training and will pay the cost of mediation,” Crandell said.
Crandell said the video was an addendum to the Zoom record to make sure the public was aware of the action.
Nichols was the county’s Human Resources director for a year. She was hired in August 2018 and held the job until the following summer.
On Aug. 30, 2019, then-County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson, with her then-Assistant County Administrative Officer Susan Parker present, “informed Ms. Nichols that today would be her last day as HR Director,” and that she “no longer had confidence in Ms. Nichols’ commitment to her and gave Ms. Nichols two (2) options: either resign or be fired,” according to the lawsuit.
The suit filings said “Huchingson sarcastically offered that Sheriff Martin might have an available position in his department, and if it was something Ms. Nichols wanted, defendant Huchingson would not stand in the way.”
Nichols asked to leave to get more boxes, and when she returned, she found Parker and county staff with 12 boxes of Nichols’ belongings stacked on the front steps of the county courthouse in Lakeport.
Nichols, who is Black, filed her lawsuit in federal court in July 2020 alleging wrongful termination, racial discrimination, infringement of her First Amendment rights to free speech and retaliation. She sued both the county and Huchingson, specifically, and sought unlimited damages.
The case had been on track for the finalizing of discovery by July 1, with a motion hearing set for Sept. 23 in Oakland and a jury trial scheduled to begin on March 23, 2023, as Lake County News has reported.
Huchingson abruptly announced her resignation on March 17, two days after a closed session discussion with the board about the case.
On May 23, the board hired Parker — reported to be Huchingson’s hand-picked successor — as the new county administrative officer. The following day, another closed session discussion on the lawsuit was held during the board meeting.
On May 27, the last filing was made in the case, with the heading, “Defendants’ county of Lake and Carol Huchingson’s notice of pending settlement negotiations; proposed order.”
That two page document stated, “The parties hereby notify the Court that the parties are engaging in an ongoing private mediation and will have a decision as to a comprehensive settlement proposal after the Lake County Board of Supervisors meets on June 14, 2022.”
The filing stated that in the event the case settled, within seven days of the full execution of the settlement agreement, the parties will file with the court a joint stipulation for dismissal pursuant to federal rules of civil procedure.
“In the unlikely event the case does not settle, the parties will file a certification that all supplementation of discovery has been completed no later than June 21, 2022,” the document stated.
The federal court filings also indicated that attorneys hired by the county continue to defend not just the county but Huchingson in the suit.
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102120 Nichols Amended Complaint by LakeCoNews on Scribd