McHenry County must pay more than two dozen current or former sheriff’s department employees another $51,000 to settle a sexual discrimination case.
As part of a federal court consent decree in 1996, the county had to boost the hiring and promotion of females and other minorities in the sheriff’s department and pay the plaintiffs in the case $440,000 in damages. The county set aside the money and paid it out in installments. The average payout was about $15,000 a person, Finance Manager Richard Roleck said.
On Tuesday he told the County Board’s Finance Committee that the court has ordered the county to pay the plaintiffs another $51,000, the amount of interest the county earned on the money it reserved for the settlement. That payment, though, will be the final one the county must make, he said.
“I’m glad to see this come to an end,” Finance Committee Chairman John Colomer said.
