Cascade County settles discrimination complaint for $52K

On Friday, Cascade County Commissioners held a special meeting and voted 2-1 to approve a $52,500 settlement with Rina Fontana Moore after she filed a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau alleging discrimination due to her political beliefs.

Fontana Moore is a Democrat and is currently running for a seat in the Montana House of Representatives . All three commissioners - Joe Briggs, Jim Larson and Rae Grulkowski - are Republicans.

Briggs and Larson voted for the settlement agreement, while Grulkowski voted against.

Moore held the position of Cascade County Clerk and Recorder for 16 years before losing re-election to Sandra Merchant in 2022.

When the county stripped election duties from Merchant in December of 2023, Moore applied for the newly created election administrator position.

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But ultimately, the county gave the position to businesswoman Terry Thompson who had never previously worked in an elections office. Moore believes she was the most qualified applicant for the job and filed the complaint with HRB.

The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing but was agreed upon to avoid a lengthy and costly legal process.

Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki was initially included in the complaint, so attorney Jordan York Crosby was retained as counsel to negotiate on behalf of the county.

“In the grand scheme of this case, ($52,500) is relatively minimal of what the county would ultimately pay. The process is lengthy. It would probably be at least a year before we got through that," Crosby said. "And the county would be required to provide two attorneys and pay those attorneys. So, you are likely to be well above the $52,500, just in attorney's fees before an ultimate decision of discrimination is or is not found.”

The Montana Association of Counties does not provide coverage for political belief discrimination, so Cascade County is responsible for payment of the settlement amount.