LITTLE ROCK — A settlement agreement between the Metropolitan Housing Alliance and former Executive Director Shelly Ehenger awarding her $120,000 in compensation in exchange for her agreement not to seek litigation of an Equal Opportunity Employment Commission complaint was signed Friday.
The alliance’s board of directors approved the settlement in a 4-1 vote Wednesday, with member Kenyon Lowe voting against the agreement. Under the settlement, Ehenger has seven days to change her mind and rescind her agreement to settle.
The settlement agreement Friday was not the first time the agency has asked to settle complaints before they’ve gone to court. Between 1990 and 2010, the agency and its attorneys settled at least three other civil-rights, discrimination or EEOC complaints before they went to court.
Ehenger’s recently hired replacement, Executive Director Rodney Forte, was reached by cell phone late Friday. He said the alliance would not make an immediate statement on the settle- ment, but he said it planned to release an official statement sometime in the future.
Ehenger, who was also reached by cell phone late Friday, released a statement about the settlement highlighting that under the agreement she is able to work as a consultant for the federally-funded public housing agency, and that she was also given a neutral letter of reference under the agreement.
“I’m happy to put this behind me and look forward to continuing my career as an excellent public servant,” she wrote. “I have served the Metropolitan Housing Alliance with integrity and a uniquely gifted competency that resulted in unprecedented community revitalization and human capital development.
“Instead of pursuing litigation, I have chosen to devote my energy in continuing important community development work. This is in the best interest of the MHA residents and the neighbors and partners that have been supportive of me.”
The agency manages more than $37 million in property assets and provides housing to about 8,000 Little Rock residents through various programs, including about 2,000 federal Section 8 vouchers for low-income tenants. Most of the agency’s funding comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city does not provide any direct funding to the agency.
Ehenger mentions some of her accomplishments in her statement, including being the first female executive director for the agency, securing $50 million in redevelopment funds for distressed neighborhoods in Little Rock, helping remove the agency from federal department’s “distressed” list and turning the alliance into a “high-performing affordable housing leader.”
She also notes her involvement in helping manage and secure the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds and the federal Choice Neighborhood Planning grant, which target infrastructure development and human capital development in blighted areas of the city.
The alliance board fired Ehenger on Aug. 7, after a three-month investigation into a personnel complaint from her employee, Human Resources Manager Kim Travis. The complaint came after an e-mail exchange between the two women in May, and in it Travis accused Ehenger of unfair hiring practices and nepotism.
Both were suspended with pay through August.
The investigation by an outside attorney raised some possible issues with hiring practices. The board voted to fire Ehenger, then voted not to review a 500-page appeal she wanted to file.
As part of the settlement, the alliance agreed to put the 500-page answer in Ehenger’s personnel file.
According to the settlement document, the alliance agrees to pay Ehenger $20,000 in lost wages, about $40,000 in attorney’s fees and about $60,000 in “other compensatory amounts.” The alliance also agreed to wire the attorney’s fees to Ehenger’s attorney and to issue a check to Ehenger for her portion of the compensation between Jan. 2 and Jan. 4.
In return, Ehenger agreed to forgo any litigation.
“It is Ehenger’s express desire to release and waive each and every claim for injuries, damages, and consequences, known and unknown, developed or which might develop in the future, resulting from any practices, acts, or omissions of [MHA] prior to the effective date of this Settlement Agreement,” the document states.
“This release includes a release of Ehenger’s right to file a subsequent court action concerning any allegations predating this settlement. ...”
The agreement also cites Ehenger’s claim made to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. No details of those allegations were mentioned, but the agreement specifically states that Ehenger will not pursue the claim.
The alliance, formerly known as the Little Rock Housing Authority, has settled at least three other complaints, two from employees, since 1990. Most recently it settled with employee Felecia Cooks who filed a complaint in 2006 that she was dismissed partly because of her gender. The agency settled out of court in 2007.
It’s unclear whether the agency settled any complaints before they became lawsuits. EEOC complaints are not public until the person alleging discrimination files a grievance in the court system.
The federal Equal Opportunity Employment Commission does not confirm any request for opinions on legal merit of civil-rights violations or other discrimination. Even if the EEOC issues a finding in support of a lawsuit, those documents do not become public unless the complainant files a lawsuit.
During the period between 1990 and 2010, eight discrimination complaints from employees and residents of the agency were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction or reasons listed as “other,” according to filings in the U.S. District Cour for the Eastern District of Arkansas. During that time, one complaint went to trial in 1998, when a judge ruled in favor of the agency, according to court documents.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/22/2012