Huntington Beach this month paid $2.5 million to an employee and a former employee who claimed age and disability discrimination in a case that named City Attorney Michael Gates and the city itself as defendants.
The city also has spent more than $1.5 million fighting the complaint, according to officials.
Neal Moore, now 75, a former senior deputy city attorney who worked for Huntington Beach for 14 years, and Scott Field, 64, a current senior deputy city attorney employed for 26 years, argued that Gates made a “concerted effort” to force out themselves and other older employees since he was first elected in 2014.
The city paid Moore a total of $1.5 million, and Field $1 million.
The settlement is covered by Big Independent Cities Excess Pool Joint Powers Authority (BICEP). Huntington Beach is self-insured through the tax-funded program – to which five California cities, including Santa Ana – contribute money to spread risk.
Because the lawsuit involved the city attorney’s office, Huntington Beach hired outside counsel to handle it. Those costs are drawn from the city’s general fund.
“I only have authority to spend up to only $100,000 on outside attorneys,” Gates noted in an email to the Orange County Register on Saturday, May 29. “Anything above that requires City Council approval. This lawsuit has always been without merit, which is why for two solid years City Council has directed the attorneys handling the case to prepare for and take the case to trial – hence, the hefty attorneys fees appropriations.”
The settlement briefly appeared on the agenda for the upcoming city council meeting Tuesday, June 1.
Councilmen Dan Kalmick and Mike Posey coauthored a request for the city manager to present “an analysis of the settlement agreement … to include a full accounting of all costs incurred in the case.”
“As a new councilman, I would like to understand how we ended up in this situation, and whether making potential policy changes could help us to avoid it in the future,” Kalmick said Thursday.
However, Gates questioned the purpose of the agenda item, saying that delving into the settlement’s details could reveal sensitive information disclosed in closed-session meetings – “thus exposing the city further.”
“It is highly unusual that a council member would call for an open/public discussion about any lawsuit, pending or resolved,” Gates said.
On Friday night, Kalmick and Posey decided to pull the item from the agenda because “the information is now available for folks to see,” Kalmick said.
Moore and Field said in the lawsuit that Gates “nitpicked” their work as a justification for hiring younger people, resulting in demotions and pay cuts. Field also alleged that Gates gave him verbal and written reprimands for taking sick days to treat his cataracts.
Moore resigned in 2018, citing intolerable work conditions.
But Gates disputed that characterization. “For years I worked with plaintiffs and there was never a single mention by them to HR, their co-workers, or even their robust union representation of age discrimination – not a word,” he said. “If there had been, Council would not have fought this case for two years and spent so much money preparing for trial.”
The city council decided to settle, Gates said, after learning that “any settlement would be paid entirely by BICEP’s reinsurance” – excess insurance the insurer bought through the commercial market. Otherwise, the city might have had to chip in for a portion of the settlement.
“The unfortunate effect is that I was deprived of my day in court to set the record straight and defend my actions to protect and improve the city,” Gates said.
In depositions last summer, several current and former employees speaking in support of Moore and Field described the city attorney’s office as “toxic” and a “hostile work environment.”
“There was just a lot of negativity and comments when we had staff meetings or if Mike were to stop in,” one former employee said. “It was never positive feedback.”
In his deposition, Field complained about an email from Gates that, he said, used demeaning language.
“There is so much meandering, wringing of hands, wandering and seemingly busyness for busy work’s sake,” Gates wrote him.
Field, in his deposition, said: “That’s the kind of conduct that an old man would do … odd, unproductive behavior of somebody who doesn’t even know what’s going on around him.”
As part of the settlement, signed May 21, Field agreed to no longer report to work for the city. However, he will remain employed there until he exhausts all accrued leave, totaling about 720 hours. According to the most recent data listed by the watchdog website Transparent California, Field earned a base salary of $150,600 in 2019.
The settlement is not proof of wrongdoing. In the agreement, the city states that it does not “admit to nor concede any of the claims.”
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Huntington Beach pays $2.5 million in age discrimination case naming City Attorney Michael Gates - OCRegister
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