County Broke Walsh Contract, Jury Decides

A Superior Court jury awarded Eileen Walsh $300,000 Wednesday after ruling that the county breached its former finance director’s employment contract but rejected her claim that she was a victim of sexual discrimination.

The jury deliberated for about two days on the case, which centered on Walsh’s demotion to the trash department in the weeks after the county’s December 1994 bankruptcy.

Walsh argued that Health Care Agency Director Tom Uram, acting as interim county administrator, moved her out of spite. County attorneys claimed Uram transferred her to save her job from impending budget cuts. She asked for $723,802 in damages.

Walsh, who showed no emotion as the verdict was read, said jurors did the best they could, given that some evidence was barred by Judge John H. Smith Jr. For example, the judge limited testimony about former Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, who Walsh contended wanted her fired for speaking to a Times reporter after the bankruptcy. Stanton denied the allegation.

“I think it was a fair verdict given that most evidence was kept from the jury,” Walsh said. “The county spent more than $300,000 to fight this case and it could have been resolved three years ago.”

The county’s attorney, Norman Watkins, called the verdict “a tie.” The county’s manager of liability, Dennis Bunker, declined comment.

“I’m very pleased with the result,” Watkins said. “I feel very good for Tom Uram,” who wasn’t in court when the verdict was read.

Walsh’s attorney, Steven J. Kaplan, said he was disappointed but declined to say whether they would appeal.

Several jurors interviewed outside the courtroom Wednesday said they thought Walsh’s demotion was a natural process of housecleaning after the bankruptcy, not an act of retaliation or discrimination. But they said the county had an obligation to send her back to her previous executive job in the Health Care Agency, as was spelled out in her employment contract.

“It was difficult to come up with a decision because both sides had good arguments,” said jury foreman Ric Sullivan of Anaheim. “The money we awarded her was for what she’s had to go through.”

Juror Brian Lorenzatti of Tustin said several jurors believed there were “holes” in the evidence.

“That’s the reason we didn’t do anything with Uram,” Lorenzatti said. “There were a lot of people involved and he didn’t act alone.”

Juror Caroline Babott of Costa Mesa said the most difficult part was putting aside empathy for Walsh and deciding the case solely on the evidence. She said most of the jurors were in early agreement on the five questions they were to answer as part of the verdict. All were related to whether Walsh’s contract was breached and whether she had been subjected to retaliation or sexual harassment.

“She got a bad deal,” Babott said of Walsh. “But as far as sexual harassment, there wasn’t any. It was an eye-opener to see what happens in the county, the kind of language that goes on. We taxpayers are paying for it.”

Walsh presented evidence that derogatory comments toward women and sexually explicit jokes were routinely made at Monday morning staff meetings in the county administrative office before the bankruptcy. Jurors also were told of a going-away party in which Uram made sexually inappropriate jokes about former county budget director Ron Rubino in front of his wife and daughters.

Jurors said the deliberation took days because they had to review stacks of evidence from the four-week trial.

“The county failed to document its reasons for sending her to the dump,” said juror Gary Ebert of Orange. “I think justice was done in this case.”

Walsh returned to her job Wednesday afternoon at the county’s Prima Deshecha landfill in San Juan Capistrano, where she was transferred in October from the Brea-Olinda landfill. She has been working out of a trailer office, doing mostly secretarial tasks for her $75,420-a-year salary. Before her demotion, she was earning $93,393 annually.

She said she hopes the county heeds the jury and moves her to her old job supervising jail medical services for the Health Care Agency.

Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier said, pending review of the court order, “the verdict appears to have no impact on Eileen’s current job placement.” Mittermeier said the decision exonerating the county of Walsh’s other allegations reinforces the county’s commitment to a workplace free of harassment and discrimination.