By Rupert Howell
It wasn’t an easy position be in and one he imagined would not be popular with some, but Monday’s 3-2 vote by Panola supervisors to settle a wage and hour and wrongful termination lawsuit for $440,000 with former sheriff’s department employee Earl Burdette was the right thing to do, according to that board’s president, Kelly Morris, whose vote broke the 2-2 tie.

“It could have cost the county a lot more money,” Morris said. He and other county officials as well as their attorneys had met for the second time last Friday with Burdette’s lawyers to mediate a settlement that will cost the county approximately $250,000. The county’s insurance carrier will pay the difference as well as mediation fees.

“We (our defense) had some good points but could we have won the case? I don’t think so,” said Morris who noted the three lawyers associated with the county and its insurance company were like-minded.

The complaint charged that Burdette was not paid for overtime work or minimum wage during the years 2001-2012 under four former sheriff administrations when he worked for Panola County Sheriff’s Department.

Incomplete records, including a missing computer hard drive, hampered the county’s defense according to both Morris and board attorney Bill McKenzie, a fact not lost on Magistrate Judge S. Allen Alexander.

Sheriff deputies and some emergency workers ‘radio in’ from their vehicles contacting dispatch to “clock in” as opposed to driving to the Sheriff’s Department and using a time clock.

The civil case filed in federal court in Oxford went to mediation with Burdette’s lawyers seeking $1.2 million.

Supervisors discussed a $300,000 settlement for the first mediation attempt and on Friday of last week a mediated settlement of $440,00 was tentatively reached.

A special supervisor meeting was called for Monday when Morris broke the 2-2 tie which had supervisors John Thomas and Cole Flint voting against the settlement and Vernice Avant and James Birge voting for it.

Morris said his vote was, “To get the county out as cheap as we did. . . (A trial by jury) could have cost the county a whole lot more money.”

Burdette worked under the past four sheriffs, but was terminated shortly after current sheriff Dennis Darby began his term in 2012.

He is presently Como’s Police chief and candidate for the Second Judicial District’s Constable position.

Panola County Administrator Kelley Magee said protocol for keeping time records has changed but a new system being formulated suffered a setback with the untimely death of EOC employee Cam Coker who had been assigned to get a new system in place.