Top officials in Collin County and six present and past employees reached a settlement on April 17, 2023, for $1.75 million over accusations of sexual harassment and retaliation within the district attorney's office.
According to a federal lawsuit filed on November 1, 2022, District Attorney Greg Willis was accused of making repeated inappropriate comments, touching employees inappropriately and making indecent proposals to them. The lawsuit also accused the First Assistant District Attorney, Bill Wirskye, of creating a toxic work environment by harassing and discriminating against women.
The lawsuit by Kim Pickrell, Keith Henslee, Fallon Lafleur, Vykim Le, Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 includes 75 pages worth of claims and allegations toward DA Willis, Wirskye, County Judge Chris Hill and all four county commissioners.
Willis denied all allegations and called them “false, defamatory and outrageous.”
During a press conference on November 16, 2022, Willis presented “extraordinary evidence” he claims debunks all allegations in the lawsuit. During the conference, he played an audio recording and displayed several letters from the plaintiffs that he believed cleared his name.
“Given the mountain of factual evidence, I call upon these plaintiffs and their lawyers to stop wasting taxpayer money, admit that this public evidence debunks their false allegations, and to drop their lawsuit,” Willis said in an official statement.
First Assistant DA Wirskye also denied the allegations and claimed that this lawsuit was brought on by political motivation during the time of a reelection race. He said that there is evidence pointing to the fact that the current and former employees had performance issues during their time in the office. However, no proof was given.
The commissioners allegedly had known about the harassment for years and refused to take action to stop it. The plaintiffs expressed that they were reprimanded for going to human resources against Willis and the others. According to the suit, they also filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Texas Workforce Commission.
"These individuals care very deeply for each other's well-being. That support gave them the courage to stand up for themselves, their rights, and those of their colleagues," said their attorney Jeffrey Simon of Simon Greenstone Panatier, P.C.
The plaintiffs will share the settlement equally, which will be paid from the county's insurance policy. The plaintiffs, some of which were still employed by the county, resigned as a condition of the settlement.
"Legislation adopted in 2021 prohibits sexual harassment settlements from being funded through public funds," said Susan Hutchison, the group's co-counsel, of Hutchison & Foreman, PLLC. "This settlement essentially maxed out the county's available insurance money."
