Ten hours of private negotiations Monday did not yield an immediate settlement of four workplace discrimination complaints against Barrow County’s government.
But attorneys at the end of the mediation said settlement talks would continue, indicating that some progress was made in resolving the employees’ widely publicized claims of racial and gender discrimination by Barrow County officials.
County attorney Angela Davis said the employees’ attorneys had made a settlement offer that would be considered by the Barrow County Board of Commissioners.
“We did not reach a settlement today, but we do have an outstanding offer that the board will continue to consider and will discuss tomorrow at an executive session,” Davis said Monday night.
“I think partly it’s late in the day and we just needed to conclude, but we are still negotiating.”
Norma Jean Brown is shown outside the Constance Manor House where the mediation was held June 21. Photo by Susan Norman
EEOC mediation: No settlement yet
Attorney Edward Buckley consults with MIS systems engineer Sebastian Ododa during Monday's hearing. Photo by Susan Norman
“If we were able to reach an agreement, it would include complete and full release of the county,” Davis said.
“Of course, the county denies any wrongdoing and feels very confident of its claims and is prepared to defend. But we’re trying to make a smart business decision on behalf of the taxpayers in terms of the costs associated with years of litigation versus some kind of certainty in trying to resolve it now and avoid that uncertainty in litigation.”
Tuesday night, the proposed settlement was discussed a second time for up to an hour of the board’s three-hour closed session at the end of the regular BOC meeting.
However, Davis said late Tuesday that no settlement had been reached during that session either.
MONDAY’S MEDIATION
Though this week’s private negotiations did not yield an immediate settlement, the fact that the entire board of commissioners attended the mediation and agreed to continue negotiations does indicate some progress toward a resolution.
Davis said in an interview while en route to Monday’s talks that she was not sure if there would even be a board quorum at the mediation in order to make any decisions.
She indicated the county’s position at the start of negotiations would be to agree to make workplace adjustments for the employees “rather than write a huge check.”
For more on this story, see the June 23 edition of the Barrow Journal or click here to read the full story online when you sign up for a free trial of our new e-edition. Free trial offer ends July 13.
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