OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — There is an end in sight to a lawsuit filed against Ottawa County by its health officer.
After Monday's nearly 12-hour-long mediation session, the Board has reached a settlement unanimously.
Adeline Hambley will keep her job and drop her lawsuit, while the county drops its charges leveled against her.
Among the agreement is that Hambley's deputy health administrator will also stay on the job.
"We're hoping that this is the start of a better working relationship between my client and the Board of Commission. "My client has wanted to stay and do the job. And this lets her do that. And really get back to work and try and put this behind everyone for the good of the county," Hambley's attorney, Sarah Howard, told FOX 17.
Hambley has been at odds with the Board of Commissioners — the majority of which is made up of Ottawa Impact members — since January 2023. She sued more than a year ago, claiming the Board wrongfully demoted her with the goal of eventually firing her.
The health officer and the commissioners hit a boiling point when the county worked to get a budget approved for the 2024 fiscal year. The health department requested what they said was needed.
Moss, an Ottawa Impact founder, suggested a $2.5 million general fund contribution. Hambley then went public arguing that with that level of funding, her department would close in a matter of weeks if adopted.
Then, months later, she was charged with incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty for speaking out about proposed cuts during the county’s budgeting process.
Part of this new agreement has made it harder for the Board to try to remove her. The Board agreed to have an arbitration panel consisting of three judges: one from the county, one from the Plaintiff, and Thomas Behm.
"The parties do not concede or admit that with respect to each other, they have violated any law statute, ordinance or contract and/or failed in any duty or obligation whatsoever," Chairperson Joe Moss said as he read the agreement.
In response to the charges made against Hambley in September, a two-day removal hearing was held. The hearing stretched over months as the Board moved away from firing the health officer but instead worked towards settling her lawsuit.
On November 6, the Board returned, where they voted 7-3 after Moss motioned "to accept counsel's recommendation regarding litigation and settlement activities in the case of Hambley v. Ottawa County as addressed during closed session."
In response, the Board held a hearing to consider firing her. But instead, they decided to try and settle her lawsuit.
Hambley's attorney, Sarah Howard, has maintained her client agreed to a $4 million payout to step down, but the county’s attorneys say that was never set in stone.
That disagreement brings us back to Monday’s mediation — and deal.
"We're very pleased. We were able to resolve it, you heard the resolution on the record. The lawsuit is dismissed. The termination hearings dismissed. Everything is over. The only issue left is attorney fees. And that will be up to the court. So there'll be a later hearing on that," Kallman Legal Group Attorney David Kallman told FOX 17.
Howard says a judge will ultimately have to sign off on attorney fees in the new settlement. That could happen this week.
Hambley and the county were set to be back in court Wednesday.
Hambley Stipulation and Order to Dismiss by WXMI on Scribd
