April 8, 2010

City Council agrees to pay Tingle $50,000

The Racine City Council agreed to pay disgraced Mayor Gary Becker's former administrative assistant, Sandra Tingle, $50,000 on Wednesday night, to put an end to her sexual harassment complaint. The settlement was expected.

The vote was 13-0. Alderman Jeff Coe abstained, and Alderman David Maack was not present.

Tingle had claimed that Becker and former city administrator Ben Hughes created a sexually hostile workplace.  During Becker's trial, District Attorney Michael Nieskes said the mayor admitted having an affair with her. She filed suit in July 2008 shortly after she was fired from her city job.

City officials said they agreed to the settlement because of rising legal fees; the city already has spent $70,000 fighting the lawsuit, and would have to spend another $40,000 before insurance kicks in. The settlement includes $25,000 for Tingle's legal fees, $20,000 in compensatory damages and $5,000 for lost wages.

All the major players in this incident have now moved on. Hughes began work as city manager of St. Clair Shores, MI, on March 22. Becker was sentenced to three years in prison on March 3 for charges brought after an internet sex sting.

42 comments:

  1. Nola Cross wins!

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  2. Wow our tax dollars at work. Does anyone know if Gary gets any city benefits that can be garnished to cover this?

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  3. I think you should be very careful with the allegations of an affair.

    The racinepost could be setting themselves up for a libel lawsuit. In fact, the court records do not ever mention Sandy's name. However racinepost takes the liberty of doing so.

    Interesting too, that racinepost leaves out all reporting on Hughes when the case was against him. I realize Dustin and Pete you are Hughes' friends, but seriously...

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  4. And actually Pete, if you really wanted to do true reporting, you'd know Sandy filed a complaint against the city BEFORE she was fired, not after.
    The case elevated to the state level afterwards. Interesting how racinepost chooses to leave that little tidbit of info out.

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  5. Has anyone told MI about this ?

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  6. I agree the Racine Post is walking a dangerous line here. When someone like Becker makes statements about who he has or hasn't slept with, they are all accusations, not necessarily truth. As I recall he also stated he wasn't interested in underage girls too.

    The news has an obligation to report the truth, not rumour, or use allegations as truth.

    I know all sorts of people who I've heard had affairs with Gary Becker. Is it ok to post those names here too?

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  7. I told MI (and OH just in case). We're all set.

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  8. Anon 1:18 & 1:35 = SAME PERSON.

    Check the IP address.

    1:18 & 1:35, GET A LIFE!

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  9. I made the post at 1:18 but did not write the post at 1:35, so anon 1:42 you are wrong.

    Btw, I don't even see where you can check IPs? But regardless, those posts cannot be the same.

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  10. "if you really wanted to do true reporting, you'd know Sandy filed a complaint against the city BEFORE she was fired, not after."

    Complaint was received by the City on 16th of July 2008, just two days before her last day. Tingle had alread agreed to resign with the last day being the 18th prior to the complaint ever being recieved.

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  11. She obviously didn't agree to anything like that anon 2:15. That sounds pretty absurd actually. If there was such an agreement in existance, the city would not have settled to anything.
    I'm glad she can finally put this garbage behind her.

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  12. From the Equal Rights Division's full report...

    "O. On July 8, 2008, Mayor Becker emailed the Complainant and informed her that Friday, July 11, 2008 would be her last day of employment. When the Complainant protested, Mayor Becker stated "this bickering has got to stop." Mayor Becker informed the Complainant the following day that she could remain until July 18, 2008.

    "P. On July 16, 2008, the Complainant's Attorney sent a letter to the City Attorney's Office outlining the harrassment and sexually hostile work environment the Complanant was experiencing."

    http://www.racinepost.com/documents/erdruling.pdf

    While Tingle claims to have complained to Becker about Hughes prior to the 16th (which Becker of course denied) there is no formal complaint until the 16th.

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  13. "I'm glad she can finally put this garbage behind her."

    Sorry, but my sympathy is a bit muted considering she repeatedly used sick time when she should have been using vacation time.

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  14. The ignorance of people on these blogs is really annoying sometimes. Becker made many statements when this first broke out - how many of those were found to be untrue months later?

    Sounds to me like there are a couple people posting here (or one posting mulitiple times) with an ax to grind. You need to get over it and get on with your lives.

    I for one am glad to see this come to an end for Sandra, I know what she went through and I'm happy for her it's finally over.

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  15. Tingle is a money hungry opportunist. The city is paying her off just because it is costing them too much money. It is not based on any validity.

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  17. So who learns a lesson here, and what is the lesson?

    Will the City Council now do a better job of supervising the behavior of elected officials? Will they even pretend to?

    The taxpayers will pay Ms. Tingle and the lawyers (always the lawyers, always the lawyers first) for Becker's alleged actions. That's like spanking the neighbor's kid when your child acts out. WTF?

    The lesson I learn is that elected officials rarely pay for their misbehavior (but we do), and that it is profitable to sue someone who pays with other peoples' money.

    Party on!

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  18. Orbs - shame on you!

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  19. This claim was alredy turned down by the state - she was just out for the money.

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  20. If there was no validity the city would not be settling. An invalid complaint is easy to fight.

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  21. Wow, there's a naïve comment!

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  22. Wow there's alot of bitter vengeful people out there! Are you that unhappy with your own lives?
    I know alot about this whole mess, and all I can say is there are alot of uninformed people blogging here.
    I wish Sandra the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  23. Congrats Sandra!
    You are one of the nicest people I know and I wish you the very best.

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  24. Actually, you have to be turned down by the State before proceeding on a personal law suit as I recall.

    Sandy, peace gal. You can put this whole nightmare behind you.

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  25. With our current Mayor at the helm and the fools aka City Council I'm sure this won't be the last law suit.

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  26. Dickert = Beckert

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  27. Tim the Shrubber4/09/2010 9:02 AM

    "...I'm sure this won't be the last law suit."

    Well, that is like saying the sun will rise in the East.

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  28. Orbs...maybe the Racine (and Racine Co.) should be a little more picky about who they elect.

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  29. Good luck to you Sandra. We miss you.

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  30. Well if I was sleeping with the married mayor I would have a hard time having to take orders from someone else. No wonder Hughes had problems. I mean if you have to sleep with Becker there better be more perks. To have the audacity to sue and expect 50K is outstanding. There is the ugly purple house and now this. Get real everyone knows who and what we are talking about. How can she think people didn't know.

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  31. Yeah I miss someone who is stealing 50 K from us on top of lawyers fees. Left us with that eye sore house and used sick days committing a fraud on the tax payers. Let London put up with these Nutters.

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  32. Wow anon 7:29 and 7:31 (one and the same) you've got some personal hangups you need to take care of.

    I guess it makes people like yourself feel better to take a jab at someone else and even criticize their house (which is beautiful btw). But your comments say more about you than the person you are attacking.

    And I can guess who you are anon 7:29/7:31 - it's time you get a life and get over your bitterness.

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  33. You have no idea who I am. You would guess wrong. I can't stand woman who are thieves. She pretended to care about Racine. Now she steals 150K just to make her go away. That is a loser if you ask me. We all know she did wrong. That is why she didn't win. Settling is not winning. It is a we wasted enough time and resources and want your nutter butt out of our lives statement. She is morally corrupt and benefiting from it. That is a loser.

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  34. Anonymous 12:31 pm - you've seriously got some issues man. The only losers here are people posting comments like yours!

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  35. I didn't cheat the city while being employed by them. I didn't carry on with a married mayor. Seriously, how in the world can she have the nerve to sue little alone cash a check from our city. Was she even qualified for the position she held? No good will come of the money she stole from our community. Yes, I do have issue, I have an issue with whiny jerks who get fired and deserved it, but then play a race or sexual harassment card.

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  36. 10:45 - well put. She is just an opportunist who took advantage of how muchmoney the city would or could afford to spend on this nonsense.

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  37. She thought she had job security because she had dirt on the mayor. In the end we reward her for it. Hope she doesn't repeat this somewhere else. Hope her future employers do a background check.

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  38. AescInsurance companies want a quick "settlement" so they can save money on litigation. The real "victims" are those of us who watch our taxes and insurance rates go up because of ridiculous suits such as Tingle's. In my opinion she didn't deserve a cent!

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  40. Pete - that's one of my favorite songs.

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  41. Frank Sinatra's not happy looking down.

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  42. I wonder if future employers can sue when they end up with a bogus lawsuit based on our bogus recommendation of an employee. Hopefully they also do internet searches. She and Nola can not force everyone to keep quiet. Maybe on the affair thing but not on using sick days and other inadequacies.

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