By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Former Beaufort County employee Lisa Lynch filed a federal lawsuit against the Beaufort County government on May 24 regarding alleged mistreatment that she experienced as an employee and following her termination.
Lynch and her attorney, Timothy Lewis, filed a 21-page lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming allegations of behavior by high-level county employees that created a hostile work environment and led to her termination.
She is accusing the county of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, wrongful termination that infringed on public policy, breach of contract, and defamation and she is seeking punitive and compensatory relief.
In the lawsuit, Lynch outlines her alleged mistreatment and sexual harassment by former Beaufort County Administrator Eric Greenway, alleged mistreatment by Deputy Administrator Whitney Richland and Human Resources Director Katherine Mead.
According to the filing, Lynch and her sister-in-law, began contracting with Beaufort County through their company Elementzal LLC in January 2023.
They were responsible for strategy to address and prevent drug abuse in Beaufort County.
In the lawsuit, Lynch included the text message that she received in April 2023 from Greenway informing her that he had created a new position for her with Beaufort County as the Wellness Director.
“I’ve created this job for you, it will be set up for you as you need it to be for security and comfort,” said Greenway in the text.
Lynch took the job, but not before going through the proper hiring process.
She reported directly to Greenway.
In the lawsuit, Lynch alleges that Greenway employed her in exchange for her engaging in a romantic relationship with him and she began to experience harassment just two weeks into her employment.
This continued until early May, when Lynch attended a party, that was also attended by Greenway, with her boyfriend.
It was after this that she received an angry text message from Greenway.
“Be aware of what you gave up tonight and what this will cost you,” he said in the text. “But have f****** fun because you are now just an employee of Beaufort County and I’ve lost all trust and affinity for you!”
The text message was included in the lawsuit.
The suit alleges that Greenway then spent many hours of the night sending emails to contractors that Lynch had been forming connections with as part of her job and severed all ties between them and the county.
Lynch says she filed complaints regarding the treatment she experienced while working for Beaufort County, but she was told that the County had not violated any laws.
Greenway was terminated in July 2023 and Lynch was fired a day later, and in the lawsuit, she alleges that she experienced hostility and retaliation until she was terminated.
After that night in May, Lynch requested a new supervisor and was placed under the former Deputy County Administrator Whitney Richland, who resigned shortly after Greenway and Lynch were terminated.
In the lawsuit, Lynch alleges that Richland made her life very difficult.
She filed an internal complaint with the county’s human resources department in May 2023 which resulted in a county investigation determining that Beaufort County did not break any laws.
Richland allegedly took away accommodations that had been promised to Lynch when she was hired, she was given large amounts of busy work and tensions peaked, so Lynch requested to be transferred to another supervisor.
At this point, Lynch began working under Human Resources Director Katherine Mead, and according to Lynch the situation did not get any better.
Lynch filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which resulted in “no decision.”
It was after this ruling that Lynch filed the federal lawsuit in accordance with the required steps.
To file a federal employment discrimination case, the case must first go through the EEOC and be dismissed.
“When it’s so clear that justice isn’t happening, you’ve got to do something,” said Lynch’s attorney Timothy Lewis. “I tried to get justice [for Lynch] without filing a lawsuit, and that was not happening. Beaufort County has not admitted that they had any role in this at all
Lewis said that Beaufort County has put all the blame on Greenway.
“They said, ‘Oh well bad things may have happened to her, sorry, that’s not our fault,’” said Lewis. “I can say this, we are excited to move forward with litigation and see where it takes us.”
No court date has been set, but the case is to be tried in District Court at the federal courthouse in Beaufort.
Beaufort County spokesperson Hannah Nichols said when asked for comment that Beaufort County is unable to comment on pending litigation.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
