Searcy, AR

Searcy, AR: (May-25-07) Donya Garrett, the ex-wife of former White County Sheriff Pat Garrett, filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Searcy and Mayor Belinda LaForce, claiming that she was not paid the same as Wayne Cook, a male coworker doing similar work. Garrett is a probation officer for the city of Searcy and Cook is the probation department supervisor. Garrett claimed Cook was paid $9,000 a year more while the two were doing similar work. The suit claimed LaForce violated the Equal Pay Act, the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1999, and the Fair Labor Standards Act, used intimidation in response to the filing of the suit and asked the federal court to appoint a monitor to take over the city's administration of its pay scale. The suit, scheduled for trial in June, reached an out-of-court settlement when the Arkansas Public Entities Risk Management Association (APERMA) agreed to pay Garrett and her attorney $30,000 in exchange for the lawsuit's withdrawal. [THE DAILY CITIZEN: OFFICER GENDER DISCRIMINATION]

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Published on May-28-07