City Agrees To $90,000 Settlement For Former Sheriff's Department Employee

By Brian Maass

DENVER (CBS4) - The City of Denver has agreed to pay a former Denver Sheriff Department administrative assistant $90,000 after she said she was paid incorrectly, then faced retaliation when she raised the issue.

Susan Herschel worked for the Denver Sheriff's Department starting in 2011. In a federal lawsuit, she said that she routinely worked more than 40 hours per week but was not paid for the additional hours. She said she regularly worked the extra hours from home and her supervisors were aware of it.

In August of 2014, Herschel applied for an analyst job with the Denver Police Department. She said DPD subsequently told her she would get the job but later retracted the offer.

According to her lawsuit, "The true reason for the retraction of the job offer was that Ms. Herschel's DSD supervisors.. learned of her application for the position with the DPD and induced the DPD to retract the offer, or alternatively, that DPD learned in the course of its background check of Ms. Herschel's complaint to the US Department of Labor."

In a statement, City Attorney Scott Martinez said "In these matters, Denver works to resolve cases in a just fashion while being mindful of the taxpayer dollars. Unfortunately, in this case, the amount paid to the former employee violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the city worked to come to a fair agreement outside a costly court process for both parties. "

Monday night, Denver City Council approved paying $75,000 from a liability claims fund. The remaining $15,000 will apparently come from the Denver Sheriff Department's budget.

Herschel told CBS4, "The City continues to bury its accountability in such measures and this is of concern to taxpayers footing the bill for City misbehavior."

CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4.