The state of Michigan agreed to pay $300,000 to resolve wrongful termination charges brought by the single employee fired as a result of Flint’s lead-contaminated water.
The agreement with Liane Shekter Smith, the former head of the state’s drinking water division, came just weeks after an arbitrator ruled that she was wrongfully fired in 2016 by officials who were likely looking for a “public scapegoat” in one of the worst environmental disasters in American history.
The state had until this week to file an appeal of the order through the civil service system, as well as a $191,880 back pay and other compensation award. Instead, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration paid Shekter Smith 56 percent extra to settle the complaint.
“The department has agreed to a $300,000 settlement, which closes the disagreement and allows both the agency and Ms. Shekter Smith to go on,” said Hugh McDiarmid Jr., a spokesman for the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.