After investigating allegations of bullying and age discrimination, Hall County Tax Commissioner Darla Eden claims libel

[ad_1]

William Linkous, of Atlanta-based Freeman, Mathis and Gary, representing the county, responded to Jarrard on September 16, writing that the county had denied Eden’s request for an apology and recantation.

“The county cannot disown or repudiate the report because it did not conduct an investigation,” Linkous wrote. “As you know, the witness interviews, document review and report writing were carried out by investigator (Teresa) Stivarius without any input from the county.”

The report was made due to the legal obligation imposed by federal law to investigate several complaints filed by employees of the Eden office, he wrote.

“It was only the product of good faith efforts to uncover the truth under federal law,” Linkous wrote.

The external investigation report, written by Teresa Stivarius of Atlanta-based PointerWise LLC, confirmed complaints of bullying, retaliation for reporting concerns to the county’s human resources department, and age discrimination.

At a conference of tax commissioners in May in Athens, Eden had a physical altercation with a subordinate in the lobby of a hotel. Eden has already received complaints from employees claiming she was a bully and discriminated against older workers, prompting the county to hire an outside investigator in May to look into the complaints .

Eden denied many of the allegations in the report, calling it “hatchet work” that did not give her due process. She said many of the problems described in the report stem from payroll issues and county underfunding.

In addition to the human resources recommendation to Eden and the threatening letter from Eden’s attorney, the Times obtained numerous documents including text messages and emails between Jones, the director of human resources, and Stivarius, the investigator.

Hiring Stivarius

County administrator Jock Connell said the county hired Stivarius through an outside lawyer for Freeman, Mathis and Gary. Most county purchases must go through a procurement process that requires at least three offers and a resolution signed by the Council of Commissioners once the offer is recommended by staff. But there are several exceptions to this policy, including purchases made with an outside lawyer, Connell said.

County attorney Van Stephens said it was not unusual for an outside lawyer to hire an expert.

But Connell said he was unaware of any other time the county had to hire an investigator for complaints against a constitutional officer since he was hired in 2017.

Stivarius said a representative from the law firm approached her to conduct the investigation and that she had not worked with any Hall County official before starting the investigation.

In Jarrard’s most recent letter to the county on October 1, he wrote that the county claimed a “lack of accountability for the report,” and the county’s claim that it did not conduct the investigation is “inconsistent with the facts”.

“The tax commissioner has lost confidence that Hall County will do the right thing and reject the report,” he wrote.

Jarrard claimed the county contributed to the investigation due to text messages between Stivarius and Jones regarding the report.

The SMS in question largely deal with logistics such as setting up witness interview hours, obtaining contact information and scheduling meetings. The messages also show that Jones, the director of human resources, was able to reread the report before it was considered final.

Stivarius said it was normal procedure. Revisions that do not change the factual basis of the report are common, she said.

“Once I’m done collecting evidence, which means reviewing documents and interviewing witnesses… then I compile a plan that I use to make a verbal report,” Stivarius said. “After that… I am asked to complete a full written investigation report. … Once I have it prepared, I always prepare it as a draft and share it with my client first.

In a July 22 text message, Stivarius wrote: “Through my email I will continue to treat this as a draft until you notify (sic) the county has determined it to be final.”

[ad_2]