At the last minute, right before a July 14 court hearing on the City of T or C’s motion to dismiss Sean Barnes’ whistleblower case against them, the parties agreed to settle.
On July 20 Barnes signed an agreement for $45,000, which states the city’s payment is not an admission of wrongdoing, but is being paid purely due to financial considerations. Evidently Barnes was willing to take the low-ball figure to save further legal fees as a private individual and similarly the city would pay less to settle than carrying on until the end.
Barnes was fired as the city’s parks supervisor in retaliation, he said, for informing the city’s human resources director that his boss, Community Services Director O. J. Hechler is a felon and his hiring was likely in violation of city policy. Barnes and the H.R. director were interviewing a felon for a possible job position, which precipitated the revelation and discussion of city hiring policy.
Barnes must pay his legal fees out of the $45,000 and cannot pursue any other legal action against related “parties” to the “incident,” such as elected officials, city staff or the city’s insurance representatives.
The settlement agreement and earlier, related articles are below:
https://sierracountycitizen.org/new-court-case-against-city-nepo-baby-vs-whistleblower/