Two women who filed a federal lawsuit claiming they were wrongfully fired by Upshur County Clerk Peggy LaGrone will receive $25,654.85 each from the county in an out-of-court settlement reached Monday, the county’s attorney said.

Keisha Bradley and Patti Harris, who originally sued both the county and Ms. LaGrone, originally demanded $250,000 combined, said Robert Davis, a Tyler lawyer who represented the county.

He said the plaintiffs, represented by Nacogdoches attorney Alex Castetter, dismissed Ms. LaGrone as a defendant from the case Monday, when jury selection had been set to open in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Tyler.

A spokeswoman for Castetter’s office told The Mirror by telephone Monday afternoon he had left for the day, and had also left word he was “not available.” Asked if he would be available for comment Monday evening, she replied, “Not to my knowledge.”

The plaintiffs had argued they were separately terminated in 2007 for their political allegiances, and Ms. Bradley, who is black, also contended she was fired because of her race. (Mrs. Harris and Ms. LaGrone are white).

U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider had dismissed Ms.Bradley’s claim of “political retaliation,” but left intact her contention of racial discrimination.

The plaintiffs had worked for Ms. LaGrone’s predecessor, Robin Rodenberg, and had supported Mrs. Rodenberg in her unsuccessful 2008 bid for re-election against Ms. LaGrone.

Mrs. Rodenberg is a Democrat, Ms. LaGrone a Republican. Mrs. Harris meantime was also the Democratic Party chairwoman for Upshur County.

According to lawsuit papers, “LaGrone, before taking office, expressed her displeasure about the employees’ support for Rodenberg.”

The court papers also quoted two persons as saying in depositions they heard Ms. LaGrone use a racial slur. They were Pct. 1 County Commissioner James Crittenden and Melanie Shelton, a former deputy clerk to Ms. LaGrone.

According to court papers, Ms. Easley was terminated in January 2007—Mrs. LaGrone’s first month in office—“for allegedly not being able to keep up with the fast pace of the office.”

The papers said Mrs. Harris was meanwhile fired in September 2007 supposedly “for failing to return to work after her FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) leave expired.”

Attorney Davis said the county’s “risk management pool” (which County Judge Dean Fowler said is basically the county’s insurance carrier) made the settlement reached Monday.

Fowler said Monday night the money would come from the pool rather than from county tax revenues, and that the decision to make the settlement was the carrier’s, not the county’s.

The county admitted no fault in the case, Davis told The Mirror.

“Economically, this (settlement) is so much less expensive than what it would have ended up costing the county” to go to trial and possibly face an appeal, he said. Davis said the decision was “kind of a no-brainer” from an economic standpoint, although “I just don’t like to settle cases (out of court).”

Despite settling, the “county absolutely denied any fault or liability and specifically asserted that it was a doubtful and disputed claim,” the lawyer said.

Mrs. Harris told The Mirror Tuesday that she and Ms. Easley “filed a suit that we believed in,” and “We are fine with the way it was resolved, and we are thankful it’s behind us.”

Attorney Karen Badgley assisted Davis in representing the county. Davis, of the law firm of Flowers and Davis, said Monday, “We have not billed the risk management pool for any of our time since the pre-trial conference, nor do we intend to.”

As reported in Saturday’s Mirror, Judge Fowler had said Friday that numerous attempts had been made to settle out of court, and that he expected no 11th-hour settlement. He also said the county was confident of winning the case.

But Fowler then called a reporter for The Mirror Saturday morning to report that he had learned the case had apparently been resolved.

Other than the statements already quoted in this article, he declined comment on the outcome Monday night, saying he hadn’t seen the finalized agreement.