'Wild allegations': Pinal County employees to see $40K after suing county supervisor

Two Pinal County employees will receive $40,000 after county officials resolved a lawsuit accusing a county supervisor of spreading retaliatory, false rumors.

The settlement comes months after an independent investigation commissioned by the county found that Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh made complaints of employee quid pro quo in the Pinal County Attorney's Office last year without any factual basis.

The legal drama began in April when two Attorney's Office employees, Chief of Staff Garland Shreves and Finance Manager Amanda Stanford, sued Cavanaugh. They alleged he had started a rumor that Shreves had hired Stanford in exchange for sexual favors after Shreves refused a job offer from Cavanaugh.

Now, Cavanaugh will pay $20,000 out of his personal bank account to settle the case, per a settlement agreement obtained by The Arizona Republic. The Arizona Counties Insurance Pool will pay an additional $20,000 on behalf of Pinal County. The parties will pay their own attorney's fees and costs.

The county racked up a total of $165,000 litigating the case. Of that, the county directly paid $75,000, and the insurance pool covered the remaining $90,000, which includes the $20,000 settlement on the county's behalf.

The settlement also stipulates that Cavanaugh must release a press statement apologizing for "any harm caused" and that all parties must "acknowledge that they are glad that the matter has been resolved."

Cavanaugh did not respond to a request for comment, and the press release required by the settlement agreement was not immediately available. He previously told The Republic in a phone interview that the lawsuit's claims were "clearly bogus," but he declined to answer specific questions about the case.

Shreves said the case exposed Cavanaugh as "a pathological liar." He said he's happy the case is behind him but that its impact will stick with him "for a long, long time."

"This was never about being punitive to the taxpayers," Shreves said. "It was about holding (Cavanaugh) accountable, probably for the first time in his life, for how he would just recklessly make wild allegations against people."

Details of the lawsuit

Cavanaugh first approached Shreves about taking a job as his executive aide early in 2021, according to the lawsuit, promising a substantial pay increase.

In exchange, Shreves would need to help Cavanaugh double-cross other county officials to gain political power, the lawsuit stated. Cavanaugh wanted to undermine County Attorney Kent Volkmer and Sheriff Mark Lamb, according to the lawsuit.

He told Shreves that the other county supervisors would go along with his plan because they were "stupid mindless puppets," the lawsuit said.

Ultimately, Shreves declined the job offer. In court documents, Shreves and Stanford alleged that Cavanaugh later made up a story accusing them of sexual misconduct.

That story, the employees said, led to both of them being investigated. Although the issue was ultimately dismissed by Volkmer, their supervisor, the lawsuit claimed that the ordeal damaged their reputations and caused personal turmoil.

In February, Pinal County released an investigation into Cavanaugh's claims. That report, released after much discussion by county supervisors and a vote against it from Cavanaugh himself, found no evidence to support his allegations against Shreves and Stanford.

"The investigative finding, based on the facts available to be collected, is that Mr. Cavanaugh did not have a reasonable basis for bringing these allegations forward, which also suggests that Mr. Cavanaugh had some other motive, other than the fulfillment of any official obligation, for his actions," the report read.

In a special board session on the report's release, Cavanaugh insisted that he had additional evidence that wasn’t considered during the investigation, calling its findings “incomplete.”

Sasha Hupka is a watchdog reporter covering Maricopa County, Pinal County and regional issues for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip about your county elected officials? Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @SashaHupka.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Case against Pinal County Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh settled for $40K