Beaufort Co. administrator discriminated against former white male employee, lawsuit says
A lawsuit filed Friday by a former Beaufort County director accuses County Administrator Ashley Jacobs of creating a hostile work environment and discriminating against him for being an “older white male.”
The suit, filed by Eric Larson, the county’s former director of Environmental Engineering & Land Management, says Jacobs violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Larson’s race and age, retaliating against him and creating a hostile work environment. The suit also names Beaufort County as a defendant.
Larson’s attorney, Bonnie Hunt, said she had instructed Larson not to discuss the suit.
Jacobs, through county spokesperson Liz Farrell, declined comment on the suit “because it is an active legal matter.”
Larson’s suit asks for a jury trial, recovery of lost wages and benefits, consequential and punitive damages against Jacobs and Beaufort County.
Prior to filing the suit, Larson filed a discrimination charge against Jacobs with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Aug. 8, 2019 — less than a month after resigning from the county. The EEOC closed the case with a ruling that it was “unable to conclude that the information obtained establishes violations of the statutes.”
Larson’s lawsuit comes just after another former top official unsuccessfully fought for his job back after being fired by Jacobs. In his grievance against the administrator, former Deputy County Administrator Chris Inglese accused Jacobs of creating a hostile and abusive work environment and making employees miserable enough to leave.
In the wake of Inglese’s complaint, The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette have reported on several top employees who left the county under Jacobs’ leadership. They include: former Chief Financial Officer Alicia Holland, former Director of Engineering Rob McFee and former Assistant Administrator Monica Spells.
Although Larson’s lawsuit accuses Jacobs of discriminating against “white older males,” almost all members of Jacobs’ top leadership team are white males, including interim Assistant Administrator Hayes Williams, Assistant Administrator Phil Foot, interim Assistant Administrator Chuck Atkinson, Assistant Administrator Jared Fralix and interim Deputy Administrator Robert Bechtold.
What does the suit say?
In the 29-page lawsuit, Larson accuses Jacobs and the county of discriminating against him for being an older white male and retaliating against him by not allowing him to apply for important roles in the county.
The suit cites several times where Larson received raises for his job performance before Jacobs became administrator. Larson had previously been named one of the three finalists for the county administrator role before council chose Jacobs for the job.
After April 15, 2019, when Jacobs started her job as administrator, the lawsuit contends that she and former Assistant Administrator Monica Spells “entered into a conspiracy to ruin the reputation” of Larson.
The suit says that Spells used “her influence” with Jacobs against Larson and discriminated against him based on his sex and race.
After a poor job performance evaluation, according to the lawsuit, Jacobs “intentionally excluded” Larson from meetings, changed his job duties and responsibilities “to create a hostile work environment and inspire” Larson to resign.
On Aug. 2, 2019, the lawsuit contends, Larson was “constructively discharged” from the county.
According to Larson’s personnel record with the county, he resigned on July 19, 2019. The documents include Larson’s resignation letter and an email response from Administrator Jacobs: “I accept your letter of resignation, and wish you happiness and success in your future endeavors.”
Larson now works as water resources senior director for the city of Savannah, according to his Linkedin profile.
According to the lawsuit, Larson filed a grievance against Jacobs in which he “specifically informed the certain members of County Council that he was leaving because of Ms. Jacob’s continued targeting, harassment, discrimination, circumventing of his authority, unfair disciplinary actions, and favoritism of other staff members.”
The lawsuit says that due to Jacobs’ and the county’s handling of his employment, he suffered loss of pay, benefits and other economic losses, emotional pain and suffering, mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, personal indignity and other “intangible injuries for all of which he should be compensated.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 4:45 AM.
