Clark County diversity director settlement to cost $150,000-plus

Clark County will pay its diversity director $150,486 to settle a federal wage discrimination lawsuit that the U.S. Justice Department filed against the county.

That payout is a combination of retroactive salary increases and a one-time payment for compensatory damages, according to the settlement between Diversity Director Therese Scupi and the county. The county released the agreement Friday in response to a public records request from the Review-Journal.

Related payroll and retirement costs will add at least $26,695 to the tab. Under state law, the county will need to contribute an additional $16,695 in pension payments to the state’s retirement system because of the retroactive increases. Scupi’s final cash-out when she retires Jan. 9 will be at least $10,000 more because of the settlement’s higher salary that includes unused vacation time, sick leave, longevity pay and severance, records show.

It also appears Scupi, required to separate from the county under the agreement, will be the county’s final diversity director. It said it plans to eliminate the position and have the diversity office report to the human resources director, saving taxpayers money. Payroll records show the position cost taxpayers $157,884.92 in pay and benefits in 2013.

Scupi, who is black, had alleged she wasn’t adequately paid as a department director because of her gender and race. The Justice Department sued the county in April after she filed a complaint in 2007 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Under the agreement, Scupi receives a lump sum amount of $71,350 in retroactive salary increases that date from July 1, 2011. The payments are based on retroactively increasing Scupi’s annual salary in July 2011 to $115,440, or $55.50 an hour. The full $71,350 in retroactive salary pay, covering July 2011 through Dec. 19, include recalculated merit and promotional pay increases, according to the settlement.

Scupi receives a one-time compensatory damages payment of $79,136.

Scupi went on paid administrative leave Dec. 19, and is to be paid at her final hourly rate of $60.51 until she retires.

The county doesn’t admit any wrong­doing and maintained Friday that the complaint “has no merit whosoever.”

“The cost to taxpayers of taking this case to trial would have been significantly greater than the cost associated with this settlement,” spokesman Erik Pappa said in a statement. “Additionally, both during the course of the litigation, and after a trial at which the county anticipated prevailing, Ms. Scupi would have remained in her position. The county was concerned about the implications of Ms. Scupi continuing to oversee the investigation of alleged Title VII violations while in litigation against the county on her own Title VII claims.”

The county had hired Littler Mendelson law firm, which bills at $250 an hour, in May to handle the case.

Scupi, promoted to diversity director in 2002, after starting in 1999 as a human resources analyst, had a starting salary as director of $70,185 in a job with a pay range of $68,265 to $105,788, according to the lawsuit. The complaint contended that three other county directors, two white males and one white female, made salaries of $89,980 to $94,993.

The settlement requires the county to hand out its Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action plan to employees, train its supervisors and administrators about federal discrimination prohibitions, and report all pay discrimination charges filed by management-level employees to the Justice Department for the next two years.

County payroll records show that Scupi received a base salary of $98,032.80 in 2011 and $102,608.81 in 2013. Records show that she also received a package of other salary types in addition to her base. Those include longevity pay, which is paid based on years of service, and a vehicle allowance of $6,000 annually.

Pappa said the savings from reorganizing the diversity office will cover the cost of the settlement in less than 12 months.

Scupi was unavailable for comment Friday.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1.