Joshua Sebold
Staff Writer
1/6/2010

    The Plumas County Board of Supervisors recently approved a $230,000 settlement with former county employee Tim Ball, stemming from his layoff in 2005 and the subsequent 2008 closing of the county’s alcohol and drug department, where Ball worked.
    Ball agreed to dismiss any lawsuits, allegations or complaints, including those filed with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, against the county except for workers’ compensation claims.
    The settlement also indicated Ball discharged the county from any other liability or obligations from the time he was employed to the date of the settlement.
    The settlement stressed Ball could never work for the county again: “Ball agrees that he shall not and cannot ever, for the rest of his life, apply for, reapply for, seek, or accept employment with the county.”
    The county spent $100,000 on outside legal counsel to handle the case before County Counsel James Reichle intervened and arranged for mediation. The case had been scheduled to go to trial in January, at an estimated cost of $300,000.
    The county is self-insured for $100,000, which will go to the outside counsel, and has excess insurance through the California State Association of Counties, which will pick up the rest of the costs.
    This is not the first time Ball and the county have been at odds. Ball filed a grievance when he was terminated in 2002. In that case, an arbitrator ordered that the county reinstate Ball with back pay.