Camp Verde’s former town clerk is alleging she was forced to resign due to harassment, intimidation and retaliation by top officials of the town Deborah Barber filed a lawsuit Christmas Eve against the Town of Camp Verde, Mayor Charlie German, Town Manager Russ Martin and Marshal Nancy Gardner.
Other defendants are Martin’s wife, Ann Martin, and Camp Verde Marshal’s Office assistant Darby Martin, who is not related, as well as up to 30 unnamed individuals.
Barber, who is former Vice Mayor and current Councilwoman and Jackie Baker’s daughter, stepped down early last year after about 15 years in the position.
Barber characterized the resignation as an “offering of peace” in the wake of allegations of conflicts of interest and nepotism. An investigation, however, found no basis for those allegations.
The lawsuit, filed in Yavapai Superior Court, seeks compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial, as well as attorney’s fees and costs.
Russ Martin was on vacation, but nonetheless returned a phone message, saying it was the first he’d heard of the lawsuit.
He also said he thinks that none of the other defendants have heard of it either, otherwise they would have contacted him about it.
He declined to comment until he has a chance to review the lawsuit and consult with the town’s attorney.
In published reports after Barber announced her resignation, Martin called her a “special individual” and said she would be missed.
In her lawsuit, Barber said the defendants undermined her authority to function as Town Clerk and poisoned her to other employees, creating “an atmosphere of extreme hostility and distress intending to force [her] to resign and even offering her a separate job, an agreement they breached.”
Barber alleged that German libeled her by placing written information in the town records, “wrongly accusing her of dispensing classified information, breaking protocol and the law.”
The lawsuit also claims that some information Barber provided as part of her duties as Town Clerk reflected poorly on Gardner and the town, “exposing them to criticism and criminal prosecution for altering officials records and for covering up wrong acts of the Marshal’s Office.”
Barber alleges Gardner retaliated by “making harmful physical contact” with [her].”
She also alleges Darby Martin threatened Baker.
In regard to Ann Martin, Barber claims she “encouraged and facilitated the promiscuous behavior of [Barber’s] mentally challenged daughter, culminating in her daughter’s abandonment of her children which resulted in [Barber] having to initiate guardianship and adoption proceedings for her grandchildren.”
She said the proceedings cost her more than $15,000 in attorney’s fees and legal costs.
Barber’s attorney, Robert Earle, of Sedona, did not immediately return a message seeking details on his client’s allegations.
