County official is fired
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 14, 2014 1:46 PM
Sue Guy has been fired as Wayne County's human resources director for what county officials are calling "egregious" actions and an absolute failure to do her job.
Mrs. Guy, who has worked with the county since July 23, 2003, has denied the allegations made by County Manager George Wood in his termination letter to her.
Mrs. Guy said she has sought legal counsel and that she will submit a reply to the letter by the end of the week.
Wood said he could not comment because Ms. Guy's firing is a personnel issue. He did, however, provide a copy of the letter, which is a public document under state law.
Wood wrote in the letter that the issue was serious enough that as county manager he could impose a "more serious" disciplinary penalty without going through the progressive disciplinary steps outlined in the county's personnel policy.
He wrote, "Your actions as human resources director have created a major operational issue, have had significant financial impacts, have damaged the reputation of the county and are so egregious that they warrant immediate more severe disciplinary action.
"It is clear to me that you, as human resources director, have absolutely failed to do your duty."
Mrs. Guy has been under scrutiny, and has been often the target of critical comments by some county commissioners, for more than two years following a failed implementation of a new pay plan.
"All Wayne County employees had a clean slate, in my opinion, when I became the interim county manager and subsequently, the county manager," Wood wrote. "Since staff made the discovery set out above, I cannot continue to allow you to be an employee of Wayne County. It saddens me personally to have to take this action."
The plan, implemented in July 2012, overpaid some county employees and underpaid others.
At that time payroll was in the Human Resources Department.
It was moved to the Finance Department more than a year and ago.
However, Wood said Mrs. Guy was not fired because of the payroll issue.
What is at issue is that the county failed to properly make its payments to the Law Enforcement Officers' Benefits retirement fund, he said.
The problem was only recently discovered, Wood said in the letter.
However, he admits in the letter that a "few (of the errors) may have occurred" prior to Mrs. Guy's employment with the county as well as after the payroll administration had been removed from the Human Resources Department.
"To be held responsible for something that began long before I got with the county, and continued after I no longer had responsibility for payroll, and not to hold the current person equally responsible is ridiculous," Mrs. Guy said.
Wood could not be reached prior to press time Tuesday for comment on when and how the issue was discovered, how much money is involved, why the county had failed to find the problem before now and whether anyone else is facing disciplinary action.
Wood wrote that it was "inconceivable" that Mrs. Guy did not have a plan that would have caught the errors, thereby protecting the officers and the county.
In addition to paying the funds that were improperly paid, the county will have to pay earnings on them as well, he wrote.
Wood said he will act as human resources director until an interim director can be named.
"I have someone lined up," he said.
That person is already a county employee and would act as interim director until an assistant county manager is hired, he said.
The assistant manager would then serve as interim director until a full-time director can be hired, Wood said.
Wood said he expects to hire the assistant manager within two weeks. He said he had interviewed four people and has four more interviews to conduct.
The county will advertise the human resources director's job, he said.