Clark County to pay $1.4M to settle termination lawsuit

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The Clark County Council has agreed to pay Don Benton and two other former county employees $1.4 million in a wrongful termination lawsuit. The county announced that the council authorized the settlement with Benton, a former Washington state senator and former director of the now-closed Clark County Department of Environmental Health, program coordinator Christopher Clifford and administrative assistant Susan Rice. Details about the distribution of the funds were not disclosed. It said the payout “fully and finally resolves their pending claims against Clark County and resolves any related insurance coverage claims between Clark County and its insurance carriers.”