Marra receives $130K settlement for 'toxic' workplace claim

BISBEE — Lisa Marra, former Cochise County Elections Director, has been provided a settlement payout of $130,000 through the Arizona Counties Insurance Pool, the county's risk management insurer, following claims of a toxic work environment.

In January, Marra filed a Notice of Constructive Discharge against Cochise County and in accordance with state law, the county had 15 days to address the "toxic" work environment she claimed was created by Supervisors Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby and County Recorder David Stevens as they pressured her to participate in a hand count of the 2022 midterm election to assuage some constituents who believed the election was stolen.

When nothing was done to correct the situation, Marra, a 10-year employee, entered into "good faith" negotiations with the Arizona County Insurance Pool through her attorney and resigned under duress.

ACIP provides workers' compensation, auto, property and casualty coverage for 12 of Arizona's 15 counties. ACIP specializes in the risks and challenges to county government by providing claim adjudication and risk management for member counties.

The $130,000 did not come directly from the county's General Fund — it was paid through the county's ACIP insurance.

As of Tuesday afternoon, it is not known if the payout will increase the cost of the county's annual premium, as the county has not yet responded to questions from the Herald/Review.

However, it raises the total of legal costs incurred by the actions of Judd, Crosby and Stevens to force a hand count of ballots in the 2022 midterm election to more than $300,000.

Marra was sued by Judd and Crosby personally and they made her work life difficult in an effort to force her to produce a hand count even though the County Attorney's Office told the supervisors what they were requesting was illegal. She stuck with the advice from County Attorney Brian McIntyre and Chief Civil Deputy County Attorney Christine Roberts not to perform a hand count.

In retaliation, Judd and Crosby chose to sue her in what may be a violation of open meeting law as they did not hold a public meeting to hire attorney Bryan Blehm, well known in the state for his litigations to change the election results of the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 midterm election. With no credible evidence of any wrongdoing, the courts have dismissed his cases.

The suit against Marra was filed one day and then dropped the next.

On May 1, the settlement was signed by all parties and Marra received her check through ACIP attorneys. No further court action by Marra on the Constructive Discharge claim is expected.

Marra finally speaks out

Due to the legalities involved with Marra's exit, she has not spoken openly with the press since her resignation. Now that an agreement has been reached, she said she wants to share the facts of the situation.

Marra stated in an email response to the Herald/Review, "It is clear there was substantial damage deliberately inflicted when the Board of Supervisors chose to break open meeting law to sue me in my personal capacity for refusing to break the law. Innocent parties do not settle, so the payout speaks for itself."

She explained employers, including elected officials, do not have the right to harass, threaten or intimidate employees.

"They have a legal duty to protect employees, not to bring attacks upon them," she said. "Unfortunately, this isn't a win for taxpayers in Cochise County, which includes my family as we are taxpayers, property owners and voters."

When Marra heard that many in the public believe the supervisors should pay these claims personally, she disagreed.

"They were not acting individually when they sued me in court. They were acting officially as the Cochise County Board of Supervisors, as a government entity. Therefore, taxpayers are responsible for all of their actions whether legal or not. After all, it's taxpayers who elected them."

She pointed out that normally employers do not sue a tenured employees personally, especially one with "an impeccable service record for refusing to break a legitimate court order. This is a win for election officials across the country as well as a warning for other jurisdictions.

"This was never about the money, it has always been about the principle and the damage. They crossed a line when they sued me personally which was unprecedented not to mention unwarranted prior to the November 2022 General Election. If it was about the money, I would have proceeded straight to Superior Court. These claims of abuse of power, when sent to juries, average payouts of well over $600,000. The award of $130,000 covers actual hard costs lost that I suffered because of the actions of the Board of Supervisors.

"No amount of money can compensate for what any election administrator has gone through since 2019. Sadly, most just walk away because taking legal action and hiring an attorney is very costly. It's painful for our families as it's very public and in the media daily.

"It takes major time and effort to stand your ground and do the right thing to stop any crime or abuse. People that have no idea how the voting process works in America and even though they don't know us personally, they say horrific, outright lies because that's the message that was created for them. This behavior needs to stop immediately as it only serves to divide our communities.

"Bad behavior like this is allowed to continue by those in power because it's far easier for good employees to simply walk away and move on to other jobs than it is to take them to task in court. Until it is stopped, the culture continues to grow and empowers ever bolder unlawful activity against employees by government employers."

She pointed out such actions would not be tolerated in the private sector. Human resources, legal departments, risk management and executive management would all hold managers accountable because they would be breaking the law if they didn't.

"Unfortunately, in government, this doesn't happen because some people elected info office think they are above the law and don't have to follow employee policies. When no one steps in to hold them accountable like all these departments in private sector would by law, their actions escalate and grow bolder with more damage to employees and constituents.

"Fortunately, this is not the attitude of the majority of other elected office holders in Cochise outside of the Board of Supervisors and Recorder Office. Perhaps if any of those other elected officials had spoken publicly about the disgrace brought upon the county by the numerous court actions of these few, the public would feel more confident in the election outcomes since 2020 and our county would be in a better place.

"It's clear members of the public believe what those in political power tell them is true. All of those elected in office today on the county level were elected in 2020 and 2022, and everyone agrees there was nothing wrong with the 2020 or 2022 elections in Cochise County."

Marra's experience with election deniers mirrors those of other experienced election administrators who she says left their positions "in droves with no one to replace them because of actions like this and lack of public support. I've moved on to continue my career in elections outside of this county, and I'm hopeful other jurisdictions, elected officials and those running for office will learn from the costly and avoidable mistakes of Cochise County leaders."

While Marra thought the settlement would lead to an amicable separation and take her out of the spotlight, the opposite occurred. There has been a continuous barrage of insults and untruths from people who support the actions of Judd and Crosby in Call to the Public during board meetings.

Last week, a number of people erupted during the Call to the Public and criticized her and Supervisor Ann English, who also resisted the efforts of Judd and Crosby and refused to approve the hand count.

Marra responded, "Freedom of speech and call to public are cornerstones of democracy I will always defend. It's important that local residents voice their opinions and concerns to elected leaders, as I have."

But, she says, the meetings are not forums to continue making false allegations and accusations without legal proof.

Just last month, Republican state Rep. Liz Harris of District 17 was expelled from the Arizona Legislature for ethics violations due to promoting similar accusations.

Marra said, "I'd urge those who are encouraged to continue these unfounded attacks to use caution and avoid legal action being filed against them. It's disheartening to see elected school board members and precinct committee members, people who serve on local boards and commissions and well–meaning members of the public, used as pawns for political gain for those who won't be paying your legal fees or worse, yet, serving your jail time if you commit a crime on their behalf."

She cautioned Judd and Crosby who continue to rely on their " 'election experts' and countless others from around the state they have relentlessly paraded into meetings since 2021."

Rather than acknowledging the truth, she said, "It often appears they don't want facts or the experience of true experts, which once again leaves voters at a disadvantage and taxpayers on the hook for legal fees."

Prior to Marra taking over the elections department there were "massive election problems and mistakes from 2012-2016" which repeatedly occurred in the county. She and her two-person team set about focusing on making the county's election system trustworthy and earned her great respect in Cochise County and across the state for her efforts to run flawless elections.

She said, "I'm proud of the hard work the election department employees and reliable poll workers put in year after year, making great improvements, to gain back public trust and put in solid election procedures with many layers of security, audits, checks and balances.

"Due to that thankless hard work of dedicated people, the department is set up for success with a new director taking on the 2024 Presidential Election cycle. As a public servant leader, I continue to remain dedicated to all members of the public, whether they vote or not.

"Like I've done for years, I'll continue to support the tireless work of professional Election Officials across the country, especially those in all fifteen Arizona counties who continue to remain Election Heroes.

"I wish the County nothing but the best in future elections."

Marra now works with the Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes as the Deputy Director of Elections, and said she enjoys working in the bustling city of Phoenix.

When asked about the settlement with Marra, English replied, "I have no comment, since I was not involved in the situation causing Mrs. Marra to declare the county as a hostile work environment."

Judd, Crosby and County Administrator Richard Karwaczka did not reply to questions from the Herald/Review before press deadline.