County weighs $499,000 settlement after report backs claim of retaliatory firing

Clark County commissioners are scheduled next week to discuss a proposed $499,000 settlement for a former assistant parks director who was fired over what county officials said was a flawed plan to keep parks safe during a busy holiday weekend.

County officials said they fired Terry Lamuraglia in 2008 after publicized emails indicated he formed a plan to leave almost 90 parks unguarded by park police during Memorial Day weekend. The plan was aborted.

At that time, Lamuraglia, a former fire union official, told the Review-Journal he followed the orders of Leonard Cash, who was the parks director.

He argued Cash wanted park police patrols to concentrate on the shooting complex in the far northwest valley and the Wetlands Park in the east valley, leaving Las Vegas police to handle calls at all other parks.

Lamuraglia said he believed he was fired because he refused to discriminate against a gay manager who he said made Cash feel "uncomfortable." Lamuraglia filed a complaint with human resources.

The terms of the settlement were not known Tuesday. The settlement can't go through without commissioners' approval. The item is scheduled to appear on the May 1 agenda.

In a statement, county spokesman Erik Pappa wrote, "This case is still in litigation. While we have recommended a settlement, litigation is pending until approved by the County Commission and the court, so we cannot comment at this time."

Commissioner Steve Sisolak said Tuesday that the pending settlement figure is "an enormous amount of money."

The county did not provide comparative settlement figures for similar complaints Tuesday.

Adam Levine, Lamuraglia's attorney, also declined to comment about the pending settlement.

QUOTING SCRIPTURE AT WORK

According to court documents filed on behalf of Lamuraglia, Cash told him to give the manager a bad evaluation to block her from a pay raise and create a pretext for firing her because Cash was uncomfortable with the manager's sexual orientation.

"Cash would keep an open Bible on his desk and frequently quote Scripture in the workplace. These quotations of Scripture included the biblical prohibition of homosexuality," according to court documents.

Cash, who is listed online as an assistant court administrator for Family Court, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He left the parks department in 2009.

Lamuraglia told the Review-Journal in 2008 that the county offered to transfer him to a job in another department where he could still earn his $145,000 annual salary. Cash initially told him he had to resign or be fired, then fired him anyway, Lamuraglia said at the time.

County management at that time said Lamuraglia was never offered a transfer in which he could retain his income. Rather, he was offered a demotion and rejected it, county management said.

INTERNAL COUNTY REPORT

On the same day he was fired, Lamuraglia filed a discrimination charge with the county's office of diversity, which investigated the complaint and completed an internal report.

That report concluded that Lamuraglia's claim that he was fired for failing to discriminate against a gay manager was not supported by facts. But it also said that Lamuraglia's firing in part was in retaliation by Cash for complaining to human resources about the alleged discrimination.

"The facts, however, do support his charge of retaliation related to his June 10, 2008, termination from employment," the report said.

"On or about June 6, 2008, when Terry Lamuraglia reported to HR Director Jesse Hoskins that Leonard Cash discriminated against (the gay manager) and others based on sexual orientation, gender, race, disability, etc., and that Cash retaliated against him for his refusal to terminate/take adverse actions against (the manager), Mr. Cash (newly informed by Hoskins of Lamuraglia's allegation) became angry and immediately sought authorization to terminate Mr. Lamuraglia, an authorization Mr. Cash had been denied less than a week earlier. On or about June 9, 2008, Mr. Cash obtained that authorization and effective June 10, Mr. Cash terminated Mr. Lamuraglia. Unlawful retaliation is present in this case."

Earlier in the report, Cash talks about his feeling on homosexuality:

"I personally don't believe in a homosexual lifestyle, and I don't believe it is normal, but I would never take any action against someone because they were homosexual."

The report also said that while Cash disapproved of the manager because she was gay, there was no evidence that he asked Lamuraglia to evaluate her poorly or reject her bonuses.

According to the county internal report, Cash engaged in inappropriate behaviors at work by referring to an employee as "an obnoxious black lady," calling a little person "that dwarf" and calling female staff "chicks."

The report further said that although Cash's behaviors were inappropriate, including lunchtime discussions outside of the office about the gay manager's sexual orientation, but "there was no information showing (Lamuraglia) opposed Cash's alleged discriminatory animus."

Lamuraglia, a former county lobbyist who began his career with the county as a fire inspector in 1981, moved to the parks department in 2002 to avoid a perceived conflict of interest while he ran unsuccessfully for state Senate.

He testified in the federal corruption trial of former County Commissioners Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, who were found guilty of taking bribes from strip club owner Michael Galardi.

Lamuraglia was friends with Herrera, who served time in prison in the high-profile corruption case. Kincaid-Chauncey also served prison time.

Contact reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.