Etna Township agrees to $80K payout to ex-admin
Hanson left job alleging hostile environment
Etna Township has agreed to an $80,000 settlement with its former administrator after she left the position earlier this year alleging the township was a hostile and abusive work environment.
Trustees Gary Burkholder and Mark Evans approved the payment to former administrator Nita Hanson during the board’s Tuesday meeting. Trustee Rozland Mckee was absent from the meeting due to a personal matter.
The township will cover $40,000 of the settlement, while the township’s insurance carrier will pay the other half.
Hanson left the position Jan. 24, less than a year after she was hired on March 7, 2023, as the township’s first full-time administrator since 2016.
Hanson’s attorney Rex Elliott said the day after her departure that Hanson was “constructively discharged from her position as township administrator because of ongoing discrimination and retaliation that had begun to impact her health.”
A constructive discharge is when “a worker’s resignation or retirement may be found not to be voluntary because the employer has created a hostile or intolerable work environment,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Evans, about whom Hanson previously filed an employee complaint, said during the meeting that he believed the settlement was the result of “improper hiring,” partly because Hanson had no prior local government experience before accepting the position.
“All along I just wanted everybody to do their job. Criticizing somebody for not doing their job is not harassment,” he said.
Hanson and her attorney allege Evans’ behavior went beyond criticism. When Hanson left her position, she wrote in a letter to the township trustees that she has been subjected to constant harassment and discrimination from her employer and that she had repeatedly lodged complaints in a plea for help.
“The Township has failed to adequately address any of my complaints most of which went unanswered. In addition to failing to adequately respond, the Township has only increased the harassment in direct retaliation for my legally protected complaints,” she wrote in the Jan. 24 letter. “The harassment, discrimination, and retaliation have led to a hostile and severely abusive work environment which at times has even been open for the public to witness.”
A independent investigator found in November that Evans had demeaned, ridiculed and insulted township employees, including Hanson, to the point of violating the township’s personnel policies.
Elliot said in a Thursday interview that Hanson, a 24-year resident of Etna Township, cares deeply for the township and wants it to succeed.
“She just wants everybody to move
forward in the most productive way possible. If there’s any way she can help the township in her life, she’ll do it. That’s her No. 1 priority,” Elliott said. “She loved being the township administrator, and it’s unfortunate that she was forced out of that position.”
The settlement amount serves as Hanson’s severance. The resolution that passed when Hanson was hired stated that in the event of termination, she was to be paid 12 months severance of her base salary, which was $130,000.
Elliott said the settlement amount was negotiated and agreed upon by both sides. Hanson accepted the lesser amount, he said, to allow both herself and the township move on.
“She thought this was a much better solution for everybody than a lawsuit and years of litigation. She’s seen enough discord in that township, and she felt like this was the best for everybody,” Elliott said. “She was even willing to take a lesser amount in order to look forward and to enable the township to do the same thing. It was the right thing to do in her mind.”
Evans said during the meeting he was conflicted about the payout to Hanson. If it was his business, he said he would fight the litigation Hanson and Elliott were threatening because he doesn’t “think Ms. Hanson should get a dime.
“However, this is a board of trustees, and I have to look at what’s best for the township. And again, cleaning up a mess is messy,” Evans said.
Evans said during the meeting he felt the township could win a potential legal battle but agreed to the settlement because it’s in the township’s best interest.
“We just cannot allow these kinds of poor decisions in the future, and I am hopeful this board is not going to do that,” he said. “But, again, this is the mess that we’re cleaning up.”
The settlement prevents any litigation based on Evans’ actions and comments in the past, Elliott said. But he added that if Evans continues his public attacks of Hanson — which have frequently occurred on social media and during public meetings, including the Tuesday meeting — that could be the subject of future litigation.
“He’s got to focus on the business of the township. He’s already lost a really, really valuable employee over there, and he needs to focus on what’s in the best interests of the township,” Elliott said. “It’s almost Donald Trump-like. You cross his path, and you’re going to be the subject of vicious public attacks, and he needs to stop it. Otherwise, we’ll put a stop to it for him.”
Board rejects creating township Facebook page — again
Evans again brought forward a proposal to create a township Facebook page, citing a need to reach more people about township businesses.
Evans previously proposed creating a township page during the board’s Feb. 6 meeting. The specifics of the proposal Tuesday were the same as last month. Evans said posts would have commenting turned off, and there would be no opinion-based posts, just sharing facts about upcoming meetings and events.
Last month, the measure failed in a 1-2 vote, with Evans casting the lone vote in favor. That was the same on Tuesday as Evans and Burkholder split the decision. It takes two “yes” votes for a measure to prevail on a three-person board, so the motion failed.
Burkholder said the township does need to reach more residents, but it also doesn’t have the capacity to take on a social media while it’s short staff members. He added that he’s also “been disappointed in the lack of discipline” by elected officials in Etna and in other communities. He said constructive criticism and good dialogue are acceptable, but derogatory comments between elected officials is not productive.
“I’ll be honest, I do want to see more restraint from elected officials on Facebook because it’s counterproductive, and it creates more angst in this community, and that’s what we’ve been striving to try to take out of the conversation here,” Burkholder said. mdevito@gannett.com 740-607-2175
Twitter: @Mariadevito13