Nevada to pay fired pregnant forestry dispatcher $125,000
CARSON CITY - The state of Nevada will pay $125,000 to a former Nevada Division of Forestry dispatcher who was fired soon after she told her bosses she was pregnant.
The state Board of Examiners agreed Tuesday to make the payment to Tawnya Meyer after being told by the attorney general's office that they might have to pay as much as $374,000 if the lawsuit went to court. At best, Nevada would have to pay at least $190,000 if the matter was heard in federal court, members were told.
"It is what it is," said a disgusted Gov. Brian Sandoval, chairman of the board.
He also questioned how a state agency could allow such a thing to happen.
Sandoval was told that training is given to state employees to make them aware of sex discrimination and how they should behave.
The governor added he wanted to be sure that such an event never happens again. Meyer now is working in Oregon.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit in May that alleged the Division of Forestry had discriminated against Meyer on the basis of sex. That would be a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Tuesday's Board of Examiners' vote settles the lawsuit.
Before her termination, Meyer had never received any complaints about her work performance. The Division of Forestry violated its own policies when it terminated her, according to the lawsuit.
Meyer, who worked as a dispatcher in Elko, was fired in March 2007 after she told her supervisors she would need to take maternity leave that summer, the height of the wildfire season. She was told of her dismissal at a time when she was on doctor-ordered leave.
In the lawsuit filed by the Justice Department, lawyers said regional forester Tom Turk, fire management officer Sam Hicks and Meyer's dispatch supervisor, Jennifer Byers, met early in 2007 and decided to terminate Meyer because of her pregnancy. The three, and fire dispatcher Holly Bullington, also made many anti-pregnancy and anti-caregiver remarks to Meyer and other female employees, according to the lawsuit.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@ reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
