Fired administrator settles with Chandler

Glyn Soehner, the former Chandler benefits administrator who claims he was fired in retaliation for going over the head of a boss in his pursuit of cost-cutting, has reached a settlement with the city.

Panel to review Chandler employee's firing

But he said he expects to lose his house to the bank.

"I will lose my home. I will be foreclosed on," Soehner said. "I can't continue to make my mortgage here and live."

Soehner, 58, claims city management fired him in March in retaliation for going over the head of his supervisor, human resources director Debbie Stapleton. He said Stapleton refused to give any of his money-saving ideas serious consideration.

Soehner said he had proposed several relatively painless changes to employees' benefits plans to keep costs down and minimize the city's risk, and that he became frustrated that nothing was being done as money was wasted. Even though city officials are not doing anything illegal, he said he would have felt complicit if he hadn't spoken out against what he perceived as waste at a time when the city was facing a $21.5 million budget deficit next year and slashing its work force.

City officials have said Soehner wasn't fired by Stapleton for going outside the chain of command. Rather, he was put on paid administrative leave because of a letter he had written to city administrators claiming Stapleton had made his position in the HR department intolerable and requesting that he be moved over to risk management.

The results of a city-funded investigation by the private law firm Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll painted Soehner as a volatile, paranoid and defiant man who fellow employees felt might be "capable of harming himself or others." The investigation also concluded that Soehner had long-standing issues with his job performance and that he pushed his proposals long after they had been shot down.

The City Council discussed the proposed settlement in a closed meeting Monday. Jane Poston, city spokeswoman, said she couldn't comment on the deliberations.

Soehner said he expects that the council will vote to approve the settlement on Thursday.

He said the terms are "a little more generous" than the severance package Chandler has offered its workers who voluntarily leave city employment. In April, the council voted to offer employees early retirement and voluntary severance packages equal to three months of pay. The lump sum severance for the average employee amounts to a payment of about $20,000, officials have said.

"I didn't win the lottery on this one, or even close," Soehner said.

He said he believes his friends and family will help see him through, but finding a new job could be difficult because he fears Chandler officials have damaged his reputation.

"I felt that I was treated unfairly. I felt that I was mistreated, my character assassinated," Soehner said. "I still could appear as a liability."