By Nicole Montesano • Staff Writer • 

Lawsuit settlement with county finalized

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Comments

Sponge

Murray Paolo was a conscientious employee for Yamhill County. He went above and beyond his job description and brought value to his responsibilities. This debacle is very sad, but I wish Murray well as he continues to serve the people of Oregon.

A New Generation

The IT department at the county use to be one of the most forward thinking departments, planning effectively for the future and the new technology it holds. Now they are simply replacing hardware with newer hardware as it ages out, they are no longer investigating and embracing new technology to move the County into the future. It's to bad the county always settles this type of stuff with agreements to "never work for the county again". Paolo left a huge hole with his departure and will be missed, the county lost a good person.
-keep treading and try to stay afloat

Lulu

The talking heads from the county don't deserve someone like Murray Paolo. He actually made a difference. I only wish he hadn't settled.

Don Dix

After all the claims of violations of wage and civil rights(?) laws, wrongful termination, and emotional distress, where does it end? Money, of course!

The award ($275K) most likely fulfills any pay Mr. Paolo thinks he is due, and both parties (Paolo and the county) are believably satisfied. Otherwise, this would be going to court.

stillwater

Speaking of dishonesty, I think someone better fact-check the county's statements. "sudden and unexpected death" of Vesper? He was ill with cancer going back nearly three years. Not exactly a sudden and unexpected death. If it was his death that was the motivation to settle then why was the county still fighting it in court in April (last month) when he actually died last November? In addition if Paolo said he had no intention of trying for a job with the county (who could blame him?) then why is it such a big deal that the settlement says he won't seek reemployment? It's pretty clear that the county would have suffered more serious consequences if the case had gone to trial. Paolo isn't the first person the county has done this to. He was the only one who stood up for the right thing.

frenchglen

The facts are that the County fired the wrong guy when they fired Paolo. In order to do that they tried their hardest to destroy the his career with phony accusations and investigations. then they covered up for the other guy for over two years until it became impossible to cover for him any longer. Paolo deserves a public apology from the commissioners. A whole pile of money was spent by the county to cover up their missteps. All under the watchful (not) eye of the Commissioners. What has the County done in response to all this? Hired more lawyers, hired a risk manager, had their liability premiums skyrocket and spent hundreds of thousands on unnecessary computer equipment and services. Instead of addressing the real problem which is serious mismanagement at the top levels they are simply looking at expensive ways to continue to cover it up all at a huge cost to the taxpayers of the county. The relative cost of top heavy administration at the county has exploded in the past few years and is continuing with the budget just passed. The citizens are as much victims of this as Paolo is.

Lulu

Stillwater and frenchglen nailed it.

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