‘This behavior must stop’: Second woman sues top Beaufort County leader for harassment
Beaufort County Auditor Jim Beckert is facing a second lawsuit alleging harassment and verbal abuse against a female county official.
A suit filed Tuesday by former County Chief Financial Officer Alicia Holland accuses Beckert, an elected official, of harassing, bullying and lying about her for years to the point where she became physically sick and resigned.
Holland’s lawsuit comes just three weeks after County Treasurer Maria Walls sued Beckert, claiming he stalked, harassed and secretly recorded her over multiple years. Walls also accused Beckert of making inappropriate comments about her pregnancy.
Beckert declined comment on the suit Thursday.
Holland is also suing the county for failing to provide her with a safe and non-hostile work environment “despite its longstanding knowledge and recognition that Beckert has systematically, for years, harassed and intimidated County employees.”
The lawsuit accuses the county of negligence, of creating a policy that allowed Beckert’s behavior to continue and failing to adhere to its own policies, which are intended to protect employees from abuse. It accuses Beckert of assault, defamation, and depriving Holland of her rights.
Holland’s lawsuit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages from both Beckert and Beaufort County.
The lawsuit was first reported by FITSNews.
Holland, in a statement from her lawyers on Thursday, said she, along with other women, reported Beckert to County Council, multiple county administrators, multiple county attorneys and the county’s human resources department.
However, she said she was told that “nothing can be done about it” because Beckert was an elected official.
“The decision to file this lawsuit was not taken lightly, but this behavior must stop,” she said. “The status of ‘elected official’ should not give anyone, including Jim Beckert, free [rein] to harass, bully, intimidate and threaten others.”
Holland said the county “worked to silence Jim’s victims for the sake of Jim, his status, and his friendship with a number of County Council members.”
“After years of attempting to cope with the intolerable work environment created by Beaufort County, I resigned,” she said. “You cannot heal in the same environment that made you sick, and Jim’s behavior made me sick.”
The two lawsuits against Beckert brought by top female officials paint a picture of broad abuse by an elected official and a county government that’s alleged to have allowed it to continue for years. Holland’s suit, which names multiple County Council members and Administrator Ashley Jacobs, also illustrates the ongoing divide and mistrust among some elected leaders and staff.
Council member Mike Covert said Thursday that he is looking for an “interim solution” to the concerns addressed about Beckert in Walls’ lawsuit.
“I suggested that the administrator move the auditor’s office somewhere else in the interim,” he said.
As of Thursday, the auditor’s and treasurer’s offices are in the same building at 100 Ribaut Road in Beaufort.
Jacobs said council will discuss on Monday the possibility of moving Beckert’s office.
South Carolina is one of 31 states that does not allow for recall elections to remove elected officials. However, county council members can call on Gov. Henry McMaster to remove an elected leader from office.
Council member Paul Sommerville said Thursday he would support Beckert being removed from office.
“Severe physical and mental stress”
Soon after Beckert was elected auditor in 2014, Holland was “forced” to interact with him frequently in her role as the county’s CFO, according to her lawsuit.
During these interactions, Holland had to explain basic tax rules and math to Beckert due to his “incompetence,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit says there were times in which Holland had to teach Beckert the difference between a tax year and a fiscal year.
Despite the lawsuit’s contention that Beckert did not understand “basic tax and mathematics principles,” he would constantly and publicly question Holland’s work, the lawsuit says.
“Beckert’s constant attacks on Holland and her work, often made to County Council and her direct supervisor, Ashley Jacobs, caused Holland to fear for her job,” the lawsuit alleges.
These accusations about Holland’s work performance centered on the county’s calculation of millage rates, and in 2018, Beckert allegedly reported Holland to external auditors, accusing her of violating state law, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says multiple County Council members were aware of Beckert’s attacks on Holland and other female employees.
In April 2019, the lawsuit alleges, Beckert approached Holland before a council meeting and “accosted her in front of multiple Council members.”
“After Council and administrative meetings, Beckert would often block the exit so he could essentially trap Holland in the room, forcing her to speak with him,” the lawsuit says. “Throughout these interactions, Beckert’s demeanor was threatening, bullying and unprofessional.”
Beckert’s repeated claims against Holland came to a head in May 2019 when he publicly accused her of incorrectly calculating millage values, according to the lawsuit.
After this accusation, the county paid an auditing firm $10,000 to review Holland’s records to “appease Beckert,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says Council members Chris Hervochon and Mike Covert also began questioning Holland’s work due to Beckert’s claims.
In June 2019, The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reported that Beckert was vehemently opposed to the county’s decision to approve the Beaufort County School Board of Education’s 2020 budget — arguing that the school district would be overcharging some county taxpayers by more than $12 million.
Covert and Hervochon voted against the board’s budget.
Called for comment, Covert said any questions he had about Holland’s calculation of millage rates came from his “own brain” and had “nothing to do with” Beckert. He said he had some concerns about discrepancies between the rates calculated by Holland and the school board, but those concerns were answered.
“As Holland predicted, the auditing firm found her numbers and/or process to be correct,” the lawsuit says.
Due to her run-ins with Beckert, Holland “underwent severe physical and mental stress” and visited the emergency room 10 times in 2018 and 2019 “with heart attack-like symptoms,” according to the lawsuit.
In July 2019, Holland was put on medical leave due to the “stress Beckert was causing her,” the lawsuit says.
However, her “medical needs were not respected” and she was still asked to work, according to the lawsuit.
In February 2020, Beckert “verbally attacked” Holland in the parking lot outside of the county’s administration building, and Assistant County Administrator Phil Foot rushed to her side, the lawsuit alleges. After the incident, Foot began arriving to work at the same time as Holland and walked her to the door “for Holland’s safety,” the lawsuit says.
In 2020, according to the lawsuit, Holland struggled to complete the county’s upcoming budget “due to the constant attacks by Beckert” and told Administrator Jacobs about her problems.
However, Jacobs told Holland to continue helping Council members understand the county’s process, which suffered “confusion caused by Beckert’s misinformation and false accusations,” the lawsuit says.
On Feb. 13, Holland drafted an email to Beckert, describing her problems with his behavior, but Jacobs instructed her not to send it — “essentially telling Holland to keep quiet,” according to the suit.
On April 20, “after years of Beckert’s bullying, harassment and false accusations,” Holland resigned, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that due to Beckert’s “longstanding pattern of abusive acts and defamatory publications,” Holland suffered injury, medical expenses, damage to her reputation, fear and distress.
“Destroyed” resignation letter?
After Holland resigned in April, The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette were denied a copy of her resignation letter.
Holland’s resignation letter is attached as an exhibit in the lawsuit, along with a copy of an email sent to Council Vice Chair Paul Sommerville’s personal email account, alleging that Administrator Jacobs had former Deputy Administrator Chris Inglese “destroy” her letter.
Inglese was recently involved in a grievance hearing against Jacobs after he was fired in June.
In a statement to a reporter Thursday, Jacobs called the accusation that she instructed Inglese to destroy Holland’s letter “completely false.”
“Her letter of resignation was not destroyed, and I did not instruct Chris Inglese to destroy it,” she said. “I still have her original letter of resignation.”
Holland’s resignation letter attached in the lawsuit states that the past three years were “intolerable” and resulted in “undue stress and medical issues.”
Asked Thursday why he exchanged emails with Holland, Sommerville said he’s concerned about a recent “mass exodus” of employees leaving the county and wanted to know why she left.
While some former county employees have accused Jacobs of broad mismanagement, others in the community say Beaufort County Council, the county’s governing body, has been too involved in the day-to-day operations of the county.
In March, Council member Stu Rodman was forced to resign as chairman after The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette detailed the chairman’s repeated circumvention of rules, unilateral decisions and backdoor conversations with employees — despite the council’s job to set policy, not manage employees.
When asked if he would support Jacobs being removed as administrator, Sommerville said, “I’m not going to make that statement publicly.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 4:30 AM.
