Former Torrance County manager to sue
Joy Ansley alleges discrimination
Former Torrance County Manager Joy Ansley has sent a letter to county officials saying she plans to file a discrimination lawsuit against the county.
Ansley sent a letter to the county on Dec.
27 in accordance with the state’s Tort Claims Act notifying the county of her intent to file a lawsuit, and identifying former District
1 County Commissioner Lonnie Freyburger and current District 2 County Commissioner Julia DuCharme as targets for the court action.
In the letter, Ansley claims DuCharme and Freyburger created “a hostile work environment and harassment in the workplace, including discrimination based on gender and sexual harassment, as well as assault.”
“Since the date of her assuming the office of county commissioner up until the present day, Ms. DuCharme has individually and in conspiracy with former county Commissioner Freyburger and others harassed, belittled and slandered me in public meetings and on social media. Evidence of the abuse I have suffered is memorialized in the written and recorded public meetings of the Torrance County Board of Commissioners as well as online social-media sites,” Ansley states in her tort claim letter.
Ansley took a job as city of Moriarty public works supervisor in November.
She was the subject of a special audit by the state Auditor’s Office. The audit found issues with construction projects from Jan. 1, 2007, through April 30, 2012.
The audit — completed under previous state Auditor Hector Balderas and released in December 2014 — showed that the county manager’s office cut corners in its dealings with contractor CCS Construction to the tune of $744,708.
These construction projects did not go out to bid, as state law requires, and contracts were awarded to CCS Construction for a total of 18 projects. Charges against Ansley were filed, but later withdrawn by the state Attorney General’s Office.
In January 2015, DuCharme tried to fire Ansley on the grounds of violations of the Government Conduct Act. This attempt failed. Since then, the two had clashed during several meetings until Ansley resigned in October.
Neither DuCharme nor Freyburger would comment on the letter as they had not yet seen it.