Top EDC official named in suit by ex-employee
By Kathryn Reed
The woman who is acting chief administrative officer for El Dorado County is being sued by a former employee who worked for her when she was CAO in Alpine County.
Robert Levy, former undersheriff of Alpine County, in the 19-page lawsuit alleges Pam Knorr along with three supervisors at the time and a private citizen violated his civil rights, conspired to do so, discriminated against him based on age, failed to prevent discrimination and retaliation, violated the Public Safety Officers’ Procedural Bill of Rights Act, and defamed him.
“Her theory was a younger, cheaper workforce was better,” Jeanette Viduay, investigator with the Watts Law Office, told Lake Tahoe News. The Folsom-based firm is representing Levy.
Gayle Tonon of Truckee is representing all of the defendants, but did not return multiple calls.
“Generally I can say sometimes counties settle items and sometimes they choose to litigate. I think there are good reasons behind each of those choices,” Knorr told Lake Tahoe News.
She is confident in the job she did in Alpine County, stating, “I sleep like a baby every night.”
Pam Knorr, temporary head of El Dorado County and former CAO of Alpine County, is a defendants in a labor lawsuit.
Knorr deferred further comment to Tonon.
(Knorr was hired to be the human resources director for El Dorado County, and still is, in addition to be acting chief administrative officer because of CAO Terri Daly’s departure last month and Assistant CAO Kim Kerr leaving later this month. She worked for Alpine County from 2008-13.)
When Knorr left Alpine County the chairman of the Board of Supervisors wrote a glowing letter dated Aug. 9, 2013, on her behalf. In part it says, “Most importantly, Pamela took on the mantle of CAO at a difficult time for the county and made vast improvements in our operations. It was with reluctance that the Board of Supervisors accepted her resignation and she would be welcome back here at any time.”
Terry Woodrow signed the letter. Woodrow is still on the board.
Also named in the suit are former Supervisors Tom Sweeney and Phillip Bennett, current Supervisor Don Jardine, and Nancy Thornburg, volunteer assistant archivist for Alpine County.
Viduay, with the firm representing the employee who filed the suit, said, “(Levy) wants the truth to come out about Pamela Knorr. I, like him, don’t believe she should be the CEO of any county. She is like a snake charmer.”
Viduay said Knorr was able to charm three of the supervisors, which when it comes to a five-member board is all that is needed.
Levy had been undersheriff since 2000, though he worked for the sheriff’s department since 1995.
The court filings say, “In the aftermath of county and Knorr harassing, attacking, and demoting plaintiff, these defendants assigned certain of plaintiff’s job duties – including certain law enforcement tasks as well as tasks related to plaintiff’s years-long work on county communications projects – to individuals who possessed inferior job qualifications and experience, and who were significantly younger than plaintiff. As a direct, foreseeable, and proximate result of defendants’ discriminatory actions, plaintiff has suffered and continues to suffer substantial losses in earnings and related employment benefits, and has suffered and continues to suffer extreme emotional distress, humiliation, damage to his professional reputation, and diminished employment advancement opportunities in his chosen profession, all to his damage in an amount to be proven at trial.”
Typical baloney from county government bureaucrats with too much time on their hands, incapable of holding employment in the real world. Their only employment goal is to plunder the pockets of taxpayers.
she was hired by el dorado county, and we all know the many many issues they keep having. huh.
In my opinion, It would be informative to have links to the documents to read the lawsuit and the response filed. Then if someone can fill in the blanks as to the locally known facts and if this is a disgruntled former employee situation. This reads like a small county soap opera with a claim for subjective “damages” of a terminated employee.
Yes, his Atty was citing all kinds of lame damages.
Justice, it was heartening to read your post and not see the name of President Obama made fun of, no one called stupid, nor being accused of being on drugs. I’m not being sarcastic. It is good for us all. We now live in a world where if someone disagrees with you they feel they have the right to say horrible things about you and attack you personally. They don’t face the people they attack. They don’t look them in the eyes and be held accountable for what they say. It’s an interesting phenomenon.
Good to see some light on whats been going on in the past. How does someone with a lawsuit of this nature become a HR director. I watched things in alpine shake down and it was not pretty under her direction. I know for a fact she changed the locks on a volunteer firehouse locking the volunteers out and making them resign. Many people within Alpine county would paint a much different picture than the supervisors have revealed here. At least Alpine spent all the reserves they had under her tenure and now has pretty much no reserves. I guess when you are in with the in crowd you can go along tearing things apart and walk away with huge severance packages and move to the next area to destroy. El Dorado County residents be aware
Let the fun begin I guess
Tahoelocal, You, in so many words wrote, how could someone with a lawsuit and a history in Alpine county be hired as HR director for El Dorado county?
Because she will fit right in!! Birds of a feather…
I don’t know the woman but your comment was very informative, so thank you. OLS
Lawyer up Levy. If people on this blog are so envious of other people applying for and getting these jobs, why not fill out an app…
As a resident of Alpine County, it appeared to me that Knorr created chaos and bad feelings in every direction. She moved people inappropriately from one dept to another, fired good people for insufficient reason and generally acted as a petty dictator while she charmed and manipulated the BOS with her so called money saving schemes which usually involved her taking over another dept. title with an attendant raise in salary. The county is still trying to recover from her wild ideas.