By Tim Gardner
A lawsuit filed by a former employee against the County of Avery that had a trial scheduled to begin on March 25 in Avery County Superior Civil Court has been settled out of court.
James (Jamey) Johnson, a former Avery County Communications Department-911 Emergency Call Center Director filed the lawsuit, claiming Wrongful Discharge and a State of North Carolina Constitution Violation when he was fired by county officials.
The Avery County Board of Commissioners held a special called meeting on Monday, March 18. The purpose of the meeting was to go into Closed Session regarding Attorney/Client Privilege (North Carolina General Statue 143-318.11 (a) (3) and to take any action necessary in Open Session regarding a settlement in pending litigation and to take any action necessary on a budget amendment for any settlement agreement.
Four of the five commissioners were present at the meeting: Chairman Tim Phillips, Vice-Chairman Dennis Aldridge, Martha Hicks, and Wood Hall (Woodie) Young, Jr. were present. Commissioner Robert Burleson was not present.
County Manager Phillip Barrier, Jr., Assistant County Manager and Clerk to the Board Cindy Turbyfill, County Finance Officer Caleb Hogan, and County Attorney Michaelle Poore were also in attendance.
The commissioners present voted 3-1 in favor of an out of court settlement offer of $127,500.00 to Johnson and a budget amendment for such in exchange for him dropping the lawsuit, which Johnson accepted. According to the official minutes of the meeting, included in the settlement agreement is that neither party (the County of Avery nor Johnson) will admit liability and any civil action will be dismissed along with some other items.
The Board of Commissioners approved the minutes of the March 18 special called meeting during its regular monthly meeting on April 1.
The County of Avery is insurance bonded, so its insurance company will pay Johnson most of the settlement money–$102,500.00. The County of Avery will pay Johnson the remaining $25,000.00 from county funds.
The budget amendment included the following: the amount of $128,175.75 with a debit of $118,666.66 to lawsuit settlement; a debit of $8,833.34 to salary/dispatchers; a debit of $675.75 to Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA); a credit of $102,5000.00 to insurance reimbursements; and a credit of $25,675.75 to fund balance-appropriated.
Phillips, Aldridge, and Hicks voted in favor of the settlement agreement and the budget amendment. Young, Jr. voted against the settlement agreement and budget amendment.
Johnson was represented by insurance attorney Christopher Daniel Lyon, of Charlotte, North Carolina. The County of Avery was represented by insurance attorney Sean Perrin, also of Charlotte.
According to Avery County Clerk of Superior Court Teresa Benfield, a motion to continue the case by Lyon on behalf of Johnson was denied by Judge Gary Gavenus on January 18, 2024. As a result, had there been no settlement, the case would have begun in Avery Superior Civil Court on March 25.
Johnson currently serves on the Town of Newland Board of Aldermen.
Newland is the county seat of Avery County.
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