Former Anderson County Emergency Preparedness Director, Mark Locke, received $30,000 in back wages and damages in a settlement signed with Anderson County Commissioners last week. Locke worked for the county from the fall of 2022 to his dismissal in January of this year. The settlement agreement says Locke filed a complaint of discrimination with the Kansas Human Rights Commission and the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in which he alleged claims of age and disability discrimination and retaliation against Anderson County.
The complaint never went to district court, but was mediated by a third party mediator in early October which yielded the agreement. The settlement detailed a total $30,000 payment to Locke, $5,000 minus taxes and employee withholding for back wages he alleged he was owed, $23,000 for compensatory, liquidated and other non-wage damages, and a $2,000 payment made to Locke’s attorney. In exchange for Locke’s dismissal of the claim, it also binds Locke with a gag order to not discuss its details publicly.
