Greeley settles former employee age-discrimination, retaliation lawsuit for $230K

GREELEY — The Greeley City Council on Tuesday, Jan. 21, quietly approved a $230,000 settlement with a former human-resources employee who sued the city in 2023, alleging age discrimination and retaliation for repeatedly bringing up violations in hiring practices, as well as reporting offensive behavior by the human resources deputy director.

The council put the settlement on its consent agenda, which was approved unanimously. The city filed an answer to the lawsuit, denying the allegations. A city memo on the proposed settlement, stated, “Due to the significant cost of litigating this case, the city and Ms. Fred mediated the dispute … in an effort to reach a settlement.”

According to the lawsuit that Joyce Fred filed in U.S. District Court, she was hired as the Risk, Safety and Benefits officer in 2020. A woman in her 60s, the lawsuit reports, she had more than 40 years of experience in risk management, insurance and benefits, and she holds master’s degrees in business administration and public administration.

She later took on additional duties, holding the position of interim deputy director of human services and risk officer until November 2021, after City Manager Roy Otto retired from the position, which elevated Raymond Lee to interim city manager. He was formally appointed city manager in January 2022.

“Throughout this timeframe in 2021, several positions within the risk, safety and benefits operations became vacant due to retirement and relocation of employees,” the lawsuit stated.

Twice after her hire, Fred explained in the lawsuit, she took on extra duties. She said she received only a 5% salary increase when she took on the new duties. But then she learned that several others who took on additional duties got as much as a 35% increase in their salaries.  

“These city employees were all under or close to the age of 40,” the lawsuit stated. In its answer to the lawsuit, the city stated that management positions were entitled to larger increases than employees due to the nature of their positions.

Fred reports in the lawsuit that she expressed concern about several new hires in management positions that were never posted publicly, and that the then deputy city manager, Paul Fetherston, disregarded her concerns. She also complained about a sexually explicit and profanity laced email she said the deputy director of human resources, John Nelson, sent out to his staff.

The city’s answer to the lawsuit explained: “Mr. Nelsen was hired as Deputy Director of Human Resources, (and) defendant was undergoing a transformational organizational change, and Mr. Nelsen was tasked with overhauling Defendant’s employee engagement processes and instilling increased customer focused behaviors in the Human Resources staff. Defendant affirmatively states the email from Mr. Nelsen highlighted a podcast from professional motivational speaker Brené Brown, and Mr. Nelsen intended to provide insight and assistance to the Human Resource staff members who were encountering many changes and new situations daily.”

By December 2021, Fred said she was moving through the interview process to become the assistant to the city manager, but Fetherston and Lee decided that she was overqualified after the internal review process moved her forward based on her qualifications.

According to the lawsuit, Fetherston led the recruitment for the assistant to the city manager position and knew at the time when he removed Fred from consideration for the position that she had complained about the profanity-laced email she levied against Nelson, a manager Fetherston supported.

“Upon information and belief, Mr. Fetherston directed Mr. Lee to remove Ms. Fred from consideration for the Assistant to the City Manager position,” the lawsuit stated. “It was announced on April 1, 2022, that Ms. Kuntz, the interim Assistant to the City Manager, who had fewer years of experience than Ms. Fred, was selected to fill this position. Other candidates who had not made complaints about Mr. Nelsen were not removed from consideration for promotions that they were fully qualified for.”

According to the lawsuit, Nelson sent out another email during Valentine’s Day that made several employees uncomfortable.

“In February 2022, Mr. Nelsen sent out a Valentine’s Day PowerPoint “card” to the HR staff that included many sexual innuendos. These included slides stating, “Friends w/ Benefits,” “Let’s Get a Room!” “Guess Who’s Getting Laid? (Off)”, and “Take It Off!” Mr. Nelsen was aware the cards were highly inappropriate, as the cards also included statements such as “please don’t sue” and “please don’t report me to HR,” the lawsuit stated.

“These Valentine’s Day cards made many employees in Ms. Fred’s department uncomfortable, and several individuals complained … Ms. Fred also filed a complaint about these Valentine’s Day ‘cards’ to HR.”

The city’s answer to the complaint states that only Fred and one other employee expressed concerns about the Valentines message: “Defendant affirmatively states the power point presentation was created by the North Texas Society for Human Resource Management, and Mr. Nelsen intended the presentation to be a light-hearted take on various issues Human Resources professionals manage.”

A new human resources director was hired in May 2022, and Fred reports in the lawsuit that Fred asked what would become of her complaints against Nelson. The new director reported that the city leadership decided to give Nelson another chance “to rebuild the department’s trust. Mr. Nelsen was enrolled in ‘Executive Leadership Coaching’ at an expense of $6,500 to the city and given a 10% pay increase to $143,000 within months of the Valentine’s incident.”

Months later, Fred said she had concerns about the way a new position of deputy director of human resources was being filled, as she felt the candidates were not being treated equally, and one younger external candidate was given more consideration than others. She reported that the HR director became “hostile” with her.

According to the lawsuit, the “Deputy Director of Human Resources (was hired) at an annual salary of $140,000, despite having no supervisory experience, only nineteen months of HR experience, and only ten months of benefits’ experience. The position description required four years of human resource experience and two years of supervisory or management experience. (She) did not meet these qualifications.”

Soon after, the lawsuit states, Fred was put on administrative leave for her repeated inquiries and for discussing salaries with others. She was fired in September 2022.

“The City of Greely discriminated against Ms. Fred because of her age and retaliated against her for complaining about discrimination, harassment, and violations of (Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act),” the lawsuit stated. “The City of Greeley further retaliated against Ms. Fred for discussing compensation with her fellow employees. Ms. Fred was terminated before she was able to take continuous FMLA leave as well.”

Fetherston left the City of Greeley in July 2023, and he is now the internal services director for the Town of Estes Park, according to his LinkedIn profile. According to the city’s website, Nelson is no longer with the city as a manager.

Mayor John Gates said the settlement agreement prohibited him from commenting on the situation.  

Case cited:

2023CV 03309, Joyce Fred v. City of Greeley, filed Dec. 15, 2023, in U.S. District Court in the District of Colorado.

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