‘Disturbing’: Beaufort Co. leader stalked, secretly recorded top official, lawsuit says
A lawsuit filed Monday by a top Beaufort County elected official accuses County Auditor Jim Beckert of stalking, harassing and secretly recording her over multiple years. It also accused Beckert of making inappropriate comments about her pregnancy.
The suit, brought by County Treasurer Maria Walls, says Beckert harassed her and other employees for over six years, including glaring at her through her office window, threatening her, spreading false information about her and secretly recording her during a meeting between the two.
Beckert declined to comment on the lawsuit Wednesday.
Walls is also suing the county for failing to provide a “safe and non-hostile work environment” despite knowing of Beckert’s alleged abuse. The lawsuit says that multiple employees have resigned due to “Beckert’s inappropriate, bully-like and abusive behavior.”
“Former County employees describe Beckert as a bully, totalitarian and abusive especially toward women,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit accuses the county of negligence and Beckert of assault, defamation and outrage.
Walls’ suit asks for an injunction against Beckert, protection of herself and her staff and appropriate actual damages from both Beckert and the county. It also seeks unspecified punitive damages from Beckert.
Walls’ lawsuit, which includes security camera footage and photos of Beckert, paints a picture of broad abusive behavior by an elected official and of a county government alleged to have allowed it to continue for years.
Walls, in a statement sent to a reporter on Tuesday, said she had sought help from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, County Council members, multiple county administrators, multiple county attorneys, the county’s Human Resource Department, outside attorneys, state officials and others “to no avail.”
“It has been disheartening and appalling that so many would be aware of this inappropriate behavior and do nothing collectively to deter or prevent it,” the statement said. “The inaction has not just resulted in continued suffering but the thievery of the taxpayers’ resources and the loss of outstanding professionals.”
‘Disturbing behavior’
Starting in 2014, when the lawsuit says Walls and Beckert met, Walls says he made several threatening comments to her, including that “if she didn’t step on his toes, he wouldn’t stomp on hers.”
The lawsuit states that throughout 2014 and 2015, Beckert publicly accused Walls of breaking the law and threatened to “expose” her. That included an accusation that Walls was using work time and taxpayer resources at a campaign event, according to the lawsuit.
On Aug. 14, 2015, the lawsuit states, Walls said Beckert secretly recorded a private meeting between the two. The suit also said Beckert threatened to sue Walls if she opposed his “way of doing things.”
“This meeting is one of the many times Beckert’s tone and demeanor made Walls feel uncomfortable and threatened,” the lawsuit says.
Throughout 2015 and 2016, the lawsuit contends, Beckert and Walls had continued disagreements about the collection of delinquent taxes. It says “Beckert’s outrageous conduct has continuously progressed over time.”
In the wake of these incidents, Walls requested and received Beckert’s personnel file in 2016.
Beckert eventually sued her and the county over the release of that file, the lawsuit says. That suit was subsequently dismissed.
The auditor’s and treasurer’s offices are in the same building at 100 Ribaut Road in Beaufort.
In 2016, Walls’ lawsuit says, Beckert walked past Walls’ office window multiple times a week, “often just standing and watching Walls work in an attempt to make Walls feel uncomfortable and/or unsafe.”
Beckert looked into Walls’ window several times before she reported the incidents to county administration in November 2016, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says she reported the behavior to administration officials multiple times but was told there was nothing they could do because Beckert was an elected official.
In 2017, Beckert accused Walls of violating the law over the collection of delinquent taxes, according to the lawsuit.
Around this time, the lawsuit says, multiple County Council members became aware of Beckert’s “attacks and harassment” of Walls and other female employees.
County Council Vice Chair Paul Sommerville, who is named in the suit, said the county has received complaints about Beckert “on an ongoing basis” and that the auditor has been a “challenge” for the county.
“We concluded that because he’s an elected official, there wasn’t a whole lot we can do,” Sommerville said. “I never felt comfortable with that because I just kept thinking there has to be something we can do to help these poor people.”
In March 2017, the county installed an exterior security camera outside Wall’s office window “in an attempt to document and/or deter Beckert’s behavior towards Walls,” according to the lawsuit.
Asked about the cameras on Wednesday, county spokesperson Liz Farrell confirmed that security cameras are installed in the county’s administration building “for the safety of both our staff and visitors,” but declined comment on the “individual assertions made in the lawsuit as it’s a pending legal matter.”
Former County Administrator Gary Kubic, who was administrator at the time, confirmed that Walls complained to him about Beckert staring through her window and that security cameras were installed outside the window to document his behavior.
The cameras appeared to stop Beckert from staring into Walls’ window for a “short amount of time,” but he “resumed this disturbing behavior” in January 2020, according to the suit.
“Beckert began standing in the doorway of his department waiting for Walls to pass by so he could intercept and accost her between one to three times per week,” the lawsuit says.
“Each time this occurred, Beckert was aggressive and bully-like,” the suit contends.
The lawsuit states that Beckert used the county’s hallway security cameras to “stalk Walls’ movements and accost her when possible.”
It says that Beckert’s access to the cameras was revoked due to his “disturbing, inappropriate use.”
Former administrator Kubic confirmed that after receiving complaints about Beckert, the county restricted his access to security cameras.
Starting in December 2017, the lawsuit says, Beckert made several “concerning statements” about Walls’ health and her pregnancy, took photos or recorded her during meetings and used Facebook as a “forum for his bullying, threats, misinformation and defamation.”
After learning about Walls’ pregnancy, the lawsuit says, Beckert “eerily stated that he hoped nothing bad happened to her while she was out of the office or driving home from work one day.”
The lawsuit says that Beckert asked a member of Walls’ staff if Walls was “really pregnant” and said it would be a “shame if things didn’t go well for [Walls.]”
After these incidents, Walls contacted the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, according to the lawsuit.
The Sheriff’s Office offered to have officers present at her speaking engagements but said that because Beckert was an elected official, “there was very little that could be done,” according to the lawsuit.
Asked about this meeting on Wednesday, Sheriff P.J. Tanner confirmed that he and Chief Deputy Michael Hatfield had several meetings with Walls where she “shared her concerns.” Tanner said he told her that she should file a police report. However, he said, there is no record such a report was filed.
He declined to say what else was discussed during the meetings, citing the pending lawsuit.
Out of fear for her safety, the lawsuit says, Walls began parking her car close to the building’s door and stopped attending events alone.
On Jan. 29, according to the lawsuit, Beckert “stormed across” the County Courthouse green, climbed a retention wall, walked toward Walls’ window and “glared at her” for a time before “he walked out of sight.”
The lawsuit says Walls met with Sheriff’s Office officials again on March 2 and was told she could file a complaint with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.
Tanner told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette there was no option for her to file a report with SLED unless she first filed a police report with the Sheriff’s Office.
SLED spokesperson Tommy Crosby said Wednesday there were no complaints from Walls on record “at this time.”
After that meeting, Walls hired a private investigator who told her that Beckert had made corruption accusations against her to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but that the accusations were “found to be meritless,” according to the lawsuit.
On March 4, Beckert again glared at Walls through her window, according to the lawsuit.
The suit says Walls has suffered damage to herself, reputation, character and political career due to Beckert and that the county has been “unresponsive and turned its head and abrogated its absolute duty to provide a safe workplace.”
A history of clashes
Monday’s suit is not the first time Walls and Beckert have been involved in a legal battle.
In 2017, Beckert sued Walls for improperly receiving a copy of Beckert’s personnel file, which compromised his family’s privacy by releasing some of their personal information, according to the lawsuit. That suit was initially dismissed in 2017. A follow up suit, filed by Beckert’s wife Christine, was dismissed in May.
That same year, Walls accused Beckert of over-taxing and under-taxing county residents’ vehicles. She presented an audit to Beaufort County Council that showed 11,000 errors on individual vehicle accounts, according to previous reporting.
It’s also not the first time Beckert has come under fire for questionable behavior.
In 2018, he was asked to apologize after twice addressing then-Beaufort County South Carolina Republican Party Chairwoman Sherri Zedd, who is Jewish, as “Arbeit Zedd” over email.
“Arbeit,” the German word for “work,” has become synonymous with the Nazis’ use of the word during the Holocaust.
Both Beckert and Walls were first elected to their positions in 2014 and re-elected in 2018
As treasurer, Walls serves as the county’s chief banker and investment officer and is responsible for collecting and dispersing all property tax revenues.
Those revenues are calculated by Beckert in his role as auditor.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 2:17 PM.
