Deltona commission votes 4-3 to settle lawsuit with former human resources director for $225K

DELTONA — A former human resources director who sued the city for unlawful discrimination and retaliation in connection to his termination settled his lawsuit for $225,000.

Richard Adams will receive $126,282 and change, and Morgan & Morgan, the firm that represented him will receive $98,717 and change, according to the settlement.

The City Commission approved the settlement during a special meeting Monday afternoon with a 4-3 vote; Mayor Heidi Herzberg, Vice Mayor Maritza Avila-Vazquez and commissioners Anita Bradford and Victor Ramos voted in favor of its approval; commissioners Loren King, Dana McCool and David Sosa voted against it.

During the meeting, McCool said it's her opinion that commissioners "did not have all the information that we needed to have in order to make an informed decision on this."

Asked by Mayor Heidi Herzberg to elaborate, McCool said every commissioner on the dais has commented at some point in time about not having enough information when asked to take action on something.

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"We’re getting a reputation that if you get pissed off at the City of Deltona and you’re asked to do your job and you’re asked to do it thoroughly, we're going to get sued for discrimination because we've set ourselves up as an easy mark now," McCool said.

She told commissioners Adams kept notes during his employment on previous city managers and lawsuits involving the city.

McCool said by phone Tuesday that if commissioners had access to the notes prior to having to make a decision about settling the lawsuit, they may have "had a more objective view as to the character of Richard Adams."

She also said the notes showed that Adams failed to report problematic actions taken by other city employees or officials.

During Monday's meeting, Bradford said she has to act on the information she's given and that the representatives for Preferred Governmental Insurance Trust said Adams' notes would boost his chances at a larger settlement.

Bradford also said John Peters III, while serving as acting city manager, advised the commission to settle the lawsuit.

Peters said by phone Tuesday that Bradford's comment about his advice was correct, something he was only commenting on since Bradford brought it up in the meeting.

Herzberg asked before the vote was called if it was correct that the city's insurer would cover the payout while the city would be liable for anything above and beyond the settlement amount if the case went to trial.

"That is the insurance company's position," Skip Fowler, city attorney, said. "I don't know that I agree with it, but that is what they say."

Payment is due within 20 days of the execution of the settlement, records show.

Resident Kathy Bryan, addressing the commission, said the settlement may be covered by the city's insurer, but it's things like lawsuits that result in higher premiums for the city.

The lawsuit and settlement

Adams claims in the lawsuit filed in August 2021 that Peters fired him that June because Adams was opening an investigation into complaints about Peters making discriminatory and inappropriate comments.

City records showed Adams, who was initially hired in 2016, was actually placed on paid leave with his benefits until he was fired in mid-October over what Peters described then as personnel policy violations.

At that time, Peters pointed to Adams' handling of unemployment charges filed against the city as well as reimbursements for plane tickets and hotel reservations for a conference as issues that led to the termination.

Adams' annual salary at the time of his firing was $111,945.

The city denied and continues to deny that it violated any of Adams' protected rights, according to the settlement.

As part of the agreement, Adams will not "apply for employment, either as an employee, an independent contractor or through his affiliation with any third party who contracts to provide any type of services to the city and to not volunteer for any position with the city in the future."

The settlement states Adams, if contacted, "agrees simply to indicate that the matter has been resolved."

A spokesperson for Morgan & Morgan didn't respond to a request for comment.

Another discrimination lawsuit

The settlement with Adams isn't the first that city officials reached this year with a former employee.

In May the commission voted 6-0 to settle a lawsuit filed by the former interim city manager for $45,000. McCool missed the meeting due to a medical issue.

Marc-Antonie Cooper accused city officials of unlawful discrimination and retaliation in connection to his demotion in a lawsuit filed in October 2021.

After Jane Shang resigned amid community rancor at the end of January 2020, Cooper, who was deputy city manager at the time, received unanimous support from the commission to step into the role of interim city manager.

That November the commission voted 4-3 to demote Cooper back to the deputy manager role for which he was hired in 2018. The commission also voted to promote Peters, who was the public works director at the time, to acting city manager.

Cooper resigned in March 2021 and took a job as city manager in Forest Park, Georgia, where he still works today.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Deltona, former HR director reach settlement agreement for $225,000