Accord lets sheriff's couple county sever ties for good

The Journal staff

Waukesha Waukesha County officials and sheriff's commanders Thomas and Marianne Audley have reached a settlement in a messy, 2-year-old personnel dispute that both sides hope will sever ties once and for all.

Sheriff William Kruziki, who inherited the Audley dispute when he was sworn in two months ago, said he had been intent on resolving it since he took office.

"The posture I took from day one is let's get this behind us. Let's get on with our lives," he said.

Under terms of the settlement:

Deputy Inspector Thomas Audley will resign on his 50th birthday May 20, although he will be effectively off the job as of March 17 because of vacation and holidays.

Marianne Audley, Thomas' wife and a sheriff's lieutenant who has been on unpaid medical leave for nearly two years, will drop her claims against the county alleging sexual discrimination and duty-caused disability. She also will resign.

The county will pay the couple a total of $21,800.

The county will cooperate in Marianne Audley's effort to get state approval of her non-duty-related disability claim.

The settlement does not need County Board approval, but it is contingent on two state actions, according to Steven Schmitz, principal assistant corporation counsel, who worked on the agreement. The Department of Employee Trust Funds must approve Marianne Audley's non- duty disability claim, and the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations must approve the worker's compensation settlement, for which part of the $21,800 cash award is in settlement.

"We have every expectation that they will be approved" by the state agencies, Schmitz said Wednesday.

Thomas Audley said his wife had suffered a nervous breakdown and was unable to testify in upcoming cases.

"Her health meant more to us than pressing the issue," he said. Complicated Disputes

The Audleys have been central characters in a series of disputes and departmental infighting involving former Sheriff Arnold A. Moncada.

Thomas Audley is the second- highest-ranking administrative officer in the department, after Inspector Gary Paluszcyk, and Audley's 1995 salary is $58,586. Both Thomas Audley and Paluszcyk were named to their jobs by Moncada's predecessor and rival, former Sheriff Raymond Klink.

While Klink was sheriff, Thomas Audley and Paluszcyk were principals in a departmental disciplinary proceeding in which Moncada fought suspension for unprofessional conduct stemming from his argument with police over a a municipal violation in Oconomowoc. Moncada did not contest a $55 ticket he received for shoveling snow onto the street in front of rental property he owed, but he fiercely fought the departmental suspension.

In the middle of that dispute, Klink resigned and Moncada was appointed sheriff by Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, over Klink's hand-picked successor, Detective James Flach. Moncada defeated Flach in the fall 1992 election and began his first full term in January 1993.

Once in the top command, the departmental disciplinary proceeding against him was dropped by the Sheriff's Grievance Committee, and Moncada went on the offensive.

He filed a claim against the county for his $10,000 legal bill, and later upped the claim to $50,000 for damages, alleging a conspiracy to discredit him by Paluszcyk, Thomas Audley, Flach and Klink. The County Board rejected the claim and Moncada faced a backlash of negative publicity that many observers believe led to his defeat for a second term at the hands of Kruziki.

Paluszcyk demanded a retraction of the conspiracy claim from Moncada and from newspapers that published Moncada's claims. Thomas Audley, meanwhile, went public last August with his complaint that Moncada had essentially put him on a 2 1/2-year paid suspension by giving him few duties and little responsibility. Discrimination Alleged

Shortly after Moncada's election to a full term, Marianne Audley lost out on her bid to become a captain when Moncada gave someone else the promotion. In March 1994, she filed a $2.5 million federal lawsuit claiming the action was based on sex discrimination. She also had filed a similar complaint with the state Equal Rights Division.

In December, the agency determined there was probable cause to believe the county discriminated based on sex, and it ordered a hearing on the matter.

Marianne Audley has not worked for about two years, claiming she has been unable to because of emotional and medical conditions. While on unpaid medical leave, she has been seeking state disability income.

Thomas Audley said that if the couple pushed ahead with their claims, "she would have to relive the thing that caused her nervous breakdown. Marianne is too ill to testify."

After his re-election defeat last November, Moncada returned to the Sheriff's Department as a captain, beginning Jan 1. The county has double-filled a captain's role since then, rather than bump a less senior captain to a lieutenant's job.

Kruziki said he had received permission to promote someone in his department to the post of deputy inspector in April, when Thomas Audley no longer will be physically on the job. However, whoever is promoted will keep his or her current pay until May 20, when Audley is scheduled to go off the payroll.

As for personnel relations in the department, Kruziki said: "Everyone's getting along fairly well. People who were at odds at one time are doing their job, and lots of people have rallied behind me."

The Audley settlement is "one big hurdle" that he will be happy to have behind him.

"I'm trying to end this on a positive note," Kruziki said.

Copyright 1995
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