Texas County Settles Claims with Assistant DA

FORT WORTH (CN) - County commissioners in Tarrant County, Texas, agreed to settle an assistant district attorney's workplace harassment and retaliation claims for $375,000 on Tuesday.

The county denied any fault in the settlement, but agreed to pay Sabrina Sabin $300,000. Her attorney, Susan Hutchison with Hutchison Lewis of Grapevine, will get $75,000.

The assistant DA, in turn, agreed to resign by Dec. 31.

Sabin said she was retaliated against after complaining about a hostile work environment.

"She alleged that she was counseled about her job performance and attendance, reassigned to a different position, and then began to hear rumors or gossip suggesting she was behaving abnormally at work or was suffering from personal health issues or some other type of impairment," the settlement agreement states.

Sabin then filed employment discrimination charges with the Fort Worth Human Relations Commissions and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May, alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act, the city of Fort Worth's Fair Employment Ordinance and the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act. Under the settlement, she agreed to drop the charges.

Until her resignation, Sabin will work from home in October and perform research projects and assist with case evaluations and presentations. She will be allowed to take intermittent leave under the Fair Labor Standards Act during this time. She will then be allowed to take an unpaid leave of absence for November and December and allowed to exhaust all unused vacation and sick days, according to the settlement agreement.

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