Wrongful Termination Suit by Former County Associate Probate Judge Against Probate Judge John Wheaton Tentatively Settled

An apparent settlement has been reached in the wrongful termination suit brought by former Lee County Associate Probate Judge Kathie Cash against the county and Probate Court Judge John Wheaton, according to an email between county officials.

In a lawsuit filed in Lee County Superior Court in July of 2013, Cash claimed that she was wrongfully dismissed by Wheaton after she alleged his granddaughter, Amanda Battzell, who is employed as a court clerk in the probate judge’s office, was turning in inflated time sheets. Cash claims her firing was in retaliation for reporting the issue.

County Manager Ron Rabun

According to an email from county attorney Jimmy Skipper to county manager Ron Rabun, the parties have agreed to a tentative $150,000 settlement in regard to Cash’s dismissal in early February of last year.

 

In the July 8 email to Rabun, Skipper wrote, “The purpose of this message is to advise you that I have been advised that the case went to mediation yesterday and was settled for $150,000 to be paid to the Plaintiff (Cash).

 

The settlement will be paid by the county’s insurance carrier, less any applicable deductible. According to the attorney hired by the County’s insurance carrier to defend the case, the settlement was actually less than what he was afraid it might be (or what a jury might award) given so many of the facts were brought out in the case and through discovery were not helpful to Judge Wheaton’s position.

 

Full Article and Source:
Kathie Cash Reaches Tentative Settlement Against Lee County and Probate Judge John Wheaton