LAWSUIT AGAINST CITY IS SETTLED FORMER SOLID WASTE COORDINATOR DROPS FIRING CASE.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A wrongful termination and harassment lawsuit against the city of Santa Clarita and top management figures was dropped this week, as attorneys for the plaintiff and the city negotiated a settlement.

Dismissal-of-action papers were filed Wednesday in Superior Court after attorneys for former public works engineer Hazel Joanes and the city agreed upon a ``global settlement'' that covered both unlawful termination charges and workers' compensation claims, City Attorney Carl Newton said Thursday.

The settlement amount and other terms of the agreement were unavailable for release late Thursday, but Newton said he expected those details to be disclosed to the public today. The final agreement will not require the City Council's ratification, because it previously granted negotiating powers to City Manager George Caravalho, Newton said.

Joanes, whose last known address was in Valencia, sued the city over events that led to her firing in 1997, claiming that Santa Clarita officials harassed her for speaking out against waste-hauling rates she disputed.

She named the city, former public works director Lynn Harris and Caravalho as defendants, claiming that after she second-guessed fee structures for the yard-trimming program in 1996, their reprimands for insubordination caused her to fear for her job, spiraled her into a deep depression and made it unbearable for her to return to work.

Joanes, who worked as the city's solid waste coordinator from 1989 to 1997, took a six-month paid sick leave from her $80,000-per-year position and was fired two months after the leave expired when she did not return to work. Joanes did not appeal or fight the termination, according to her Los Angeles-based attorney, Samuel J. Wells, in a previous interview.

Her lawsuit had sought compensation from the city for salary losses since the termination that totaled more than $160,000 and legal fees of more than $200,000, according to Wells. Had the case made it to trial before a jury, Joanes also would have sought damages for emotional distress and punitive damages.

Joanes' claim was not focused on the termination, but on a climate that, she said, caused her to become depressed and made it necessary for her to take a leave of absence, Wells has said. Her argument was based on a civil rights federal statute that protects public employees from retaliation when speaking out in the public interest, he said.

Joanes named Caravalho in the lawsuit, according to court documents, because he referred her to the Personnel Department when she approached him about work-related disputes and verbal reprimands she had experienced with her immediate supervisor, Harris.

Her case against the city initially was dismissed last February for its legal foundation, which argued for claims of wrongful termination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and claims of discrimination based on gender, race and natural origin, as well as two whistle-blower claims.