The Baldwin County Commission voted to reject a proposed $285,000 settlement in a lawsuit brought by a former county employee who claims he was wrongfully fired in 2012 without being given a chance to appeal.
Commissioners made the decision following a closed-door executive session lasting more than half an hour at their regular meeting in Bay Minette. With the settlement off the table, the civil case returns to Baldwin County Circuit Court for further proceedings, though a new hearing date had not yet been set at the time of the vote.
Commission President Charles Gruber said afterward that the matter is now in the hands of the presiding judge. The lawsuit, originally filed in May 2013, alleges the former employee was targeted for termination by certain commissioners ahead of losing his job and that his request to appeal the firing was denied by county officials, including a former county administrator and the personnel director at the time.
Court records tied to the case also allege that the former administrator pressured the employee to find a way to terminate a different county worker who had ties to a sitting commissioner, out of reluctance to fire that employee directly. The county has disputed the characterization of events and has not conceded wrongdoing in the case.
The rejected settlement comes roughly a month after the commission approved a separate $150,000 settlement in an unrelated 2012 wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former county building department supervisor. That employee, who worked for the county for more than a decade, alleged he was let go without sufficient grounds and in violation of the county’s own employee handbook policies.
Both plaintiffs are represented by the same Foley-based attorney, though he did not respond to requests for comment on the latest development. The county’s attorney has said the two cases are unrelated and stem from separate personnel decisions, adding that additional wrongful termination claims remain pending against the county.
The string of settlements and ongoing litigation highlights a period of turbulence in Baldwin County’s personnel department, coming in the wake of leadership changes at the top of county administration. With this latest case now returning to a judge for further consideration, county taxpayers could face continued legal costs as the litigation plays out in the months ahead.