Two Pinal County employees will receive $40,000 after county officials settle a lawsuit accusing them of spreading retaliatory hoaxes.
The settlement comes months after an independent investigation commissioned by the county found that supervisor Kevin Kavanaugh had filed an employee compensation claim last year with the Pinal County Attorney’s Office that had no factual basis. It is done.
The courtroom drama began in April when two law firm employees, chief of staff Garland Shreeves and financial manager Amanda Stanford, sued Kavanaugh. They claimed he started rumors that Shreeves had hired Stanford in exchange for his sexual favors after Shreeves declined a job offer from Cavanaugh.
According to a settlement agreement obtained by the Arizona Republic, Kavanaugh will pay $20,000 out of his personal bank account to settle the lawsuit. The Arizona County Insurance Pool will pay his additional $20,000 on behalf of Pinal County. The parties shall pay their own attorneys’ fees and costs.
The county has raised a total of $165,000 in this lawsuit. Of that, the county paid $75,000 directly, and the insurance pool covered the rest of her $90,000.
The settlement also stipulated that Kavanaugh must issue a press statement apologizing for the “damages caused” and that all parties “must acknowledge that they are pleased that the matter has been resolved.” are doing.
Mr. Cavanaugh did not respond to a request for comment, and the press release required for the settlement agreement was not immediately available. He previously told The Republic in a phone interview that the allegations in the lawsuit were “clearly bogus,” but declined to answer specific questions about the case.
Mr Shreeves said the incident exposed Mr Cavanaugh as a “pathological liar”. He is happy that the incident is behind him, but its effects will remain with him “for a long time.”
“This was never a taxpayer chastise,” Schreeves said. “Probably for the first time in his life it was about holding[Cavanaugh]accountable for recklessly making reckless claims to people.”
Content of lawsuit
Kavanaugh first approached Shreeves about taking the job as executive assistant in early 2021, promising a significant salary increase, according to the lawsuit.
In exchange, Shreeves would need to help Kavanaugh outwit other county officials to gain political power, the lawsuit said. I wanted to undermine Mark Lamb.
He told Shreeves that other county supervisors would go along with his plan because they were “stupid and ignorant puppets.”
Ultimately, Shreeves turned down the job offer. In court documents, Shreeves and Stanford alleged that Kavanaugh fabricated a story later accusing them of sexual misconduct.
The story led to both of them being investigated, according to an employee. , claimed to have caused personal turmoil.
In February, Pinal County announced an investigation into Kavanaugh’s allegations. The report, which came out after much debate by county supervisors and Kavanaugh’s own vote against, found no evidence to support his claims against Shreeves and Stanford.
“The available factual findings are that Mr. Kavanaugh had no reasonable basis for making these allegations, and this also suggests that Mr. Kavanaugh has other motives other than public service performance. … a duty to his actions,” the report read.
At a special board meeting on the release of the report, Kavanaugh said the findings were “incomplete,” claiming there was additional evidence that was not considered during the investigation.
Sasha Hupka is a watchdog reporter for regional affairs in Maricopa County, Pinal County, and the Republic of Arizona.Any tips for elected officials in your county? Contact her sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.comFollow her on Twitter. @SashaHupka.
