Kenai Peninsula Borough Kenai Peninsula Borough will pay more than $200,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed in the fall of last year against the former mayor of the borough Charlie Pierce, according to an announcement made on Tuesday by the administration of the borough Assembly as well as the administration.
The announcement comes a year after Pierce quit as his assistant. Six months later, Pamela Wastell, sued him for a string of sexual harassment allegations and suing the borough for not doing enough to take steps to safeguard her.
The borough has remained silent regarding the specifics of the lawsuit. The Assembly has voted to not reveal the specifics of an internal investigation in the fall of last year and then met in executive session once more last month to discuss the matter.
At its meeting on Tuesday evening at the Assembly’s meeting, the Assembly was able to declare the fact that it has reached a settlement in a settlement with Wastell in the amount of $237,500. The Borough will pay $206,250, and Pierce is owed $31,250, according to the statement.
Pierce’s attorney, Richard Moses, said Pierce hasn’t paid the amount personally. He instead told to the city that his share in the deal would be covered under the Borough’s Alaska Municipal League Joint Insurance Association policy, as per Sean Kelley, attorney for the Borough. Kelley stated that the borough was not aware of the settlement until the night of Tuesday.
Mayor Peter Micciche said the borough’s part of the settlement will be sourced from the Insurance and Litigation fund, which, he claimed, has a “adequate surplus” to cover the costs. The fund had more than $2.7 million in the fund for the financial year 2023..
The suit that was filed on behalf Wastell at Kenai Superior Court last October The lawsuit claimed that Pierce would kiss and touch Wastell at will, and that he made sexual comments and used his authority to make her feel uncomfortable behind closed doors of the Soldotna office. The lawsuit also claimed that he previously intimidated female employees in addition to claiming that the city did not have a reporting system that would protect the employees.
The statement also stated that the borough has not admitted any wrongdoing in the conditions of the settlement which said that the borough and the mayor of the time settled the lawsuit without proceeding further to avoid the need for “more public money” and “bring closure to an extremely difficult period.”
“Neither the Assembly or the Mayor Micciche are pleased with the entire agreement, but we acknowledge that the years of litigation regarding this issue would not be in the best interests of the Borough, nor those who pay for it,” this statement stated. Moses Pierce’s attorney, Moses Pierce Pierce, stated that Pierce is not adamant about any responsibility.
In a written statement that was sent Tuesday evening, Wastell’s lawyer, Caitlin Shortell, said her client was pleased with the settlement, but said the harassment allegations were a disaster and destroyed plan to retire.
Wastell in the same document stated that she did not feel confident in reporting the harassing behavior at the time because the human resources director who was acting that time was the chief of staff for Pierce, Aaron Rhoades.
“I am very happy that I have been able to resolve my lawsuit, however there’s no funds in the world to cover the expenses I’ve got,” she said.
Pierce was elected Mayor of the Borough in the year 2017. He resigned as mayor in August in protest of his bid for Alaska governor. The borough then said Pierce received a request to think about the possibility of a voluntary resignation as part of a resolution that could be proposed in order to assist the borough in avoiding an action.
The borough had previously reached an agreement against two of its former human resource directors over discrimination and bullying complaints that involved Pierce in the years of 2019 and 2021. The total amount was $267,000 to the Borough. There is also a lawsuit pending against the borough which was filed in January with allegations of discrimination and harassment from a Borough employee working for Kachemak Emergency Services Fire Area. Kachemak Emergency Services Fire Area.
The meeting was held on Tuesday night. Micciche — the person who voters selected to fill Pierce’s place during a special election in February — stated that the borough had adopted the new sexual discrimination and harassment policy to ensure that employees know how to report instances of harassment, and also what the consequences will be.
Micciche explained that the new policy was put “live” this morning, and applies to all who are working in the borough’s building and on behalf of the borough. The policy, which was sent to employees of the borough yesterday offers a variety of methods to report harassment. These include via the borough’s online reporting tool as well as directly to supervisors, mayor or the director of human resources or the city attorney. Micciche added that he will set up a three-person mixed-gender reporting panel comprised of borough directors which will take on complaints.
