CONWAY -- The attorney who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Faulkner County and three of its officials said he expects both sides will try to settle the case.
"It's my understanding we're going to endeavor to get the case settled," said Tom Mickel, who represents the case's sole remaining plaintiff, Julie Woodward.
An attorney representing the county, Jason Owens, did not return a phone message or an email seeking comment.
Woodward and three of the four employees at the county's Office of Emergency Management filed complaints against the office's director, Shelia Bellott, last year. The complaints accused her of various infractions, including harassment, recurring tardiness, absenteeism and falsification of time cards.
Later, Woodward and one of the other employees sued the county, Bellott, County Administrator Tom Anderson and Jim Baker, the county judge of Faulkner County. The second employee, Mary Johnson, later withdrew from the case, which is pending in U.S. District Court in Little Rock.
All four employees have since resigned, though Bellott remains the office's director despite recommendations by two attorneys that Baker fire her. Baker instead moved her to a building separate from the other office's employees.
Mickel said Tuesday that he had talked with Owens, who did not oppose talks aimed at a monetary settlement.
Shortly before the November general election -- when Baker, a Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Damon Edwards -- U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. put the lawsuit on hold and ordered the parties to submit a status update by Jan. 28. The case had been set for trial starting Nov. 26.
Asked if any negotiations were intentionally delayed until after the election, Mickel said, "I think that was the conventional wisdom. I think that still probably is. ... If I were them, that would be the wise thing to do politically. I can't read his [Baker's] mind, but if I were a county judge who is a Democrat in a mostly Republican ... district ... certainly this isn't a bad outcome for him. Clearly, it's to his and, most importantly, to the county's advantage."
Baker said talk of an effort to delay settlement negotiations until after the election was "bull****."
"This is the first I've heard of it," he said. "I hadn't heard anything about waiting until after the election."
Mickel was working on a proposed settlement Tuesday and said he expects discussion to begin within the next two weeks. "They say they're open to talking at any time," he said. Asked if the county was saying that before the election, Mickel replied, "Well, no."
One of the now-former Emergency Management employees, Tyler Lachowsky, defeated an incumbent justice of the peace in the Republican primary and will take office in January.
Faulkner County Attorney David Hogue first investigated employees' complaints alleging that Bellott talked about her sex life in sometimes graphic terms during work. Hogue later said he recommended that Baker fire Bellott. The Quorum Court subsequently appointed Cody Hiland, then a prosecuting attorney, to investigate the matter in a civil role. Hiland, now a U.S. attorney, also recommended termination, according to a court filing by Mickel in July.
Only Baker can fire Bellott. The Quorum Court, however, can withhold funding for her position, but it has not done so.
NW News on 11/23/2018