Richland County could owe fired administrator more than $184,000

Richland County could owe upward of $184,000 in severance pay to fired administrator Gerald Seals, who was abruptly terminated by County Council on Tuesday night.

According to the terms of Seals' contract, he could be owed 12 months' salary for being terminated before the end of his contract, which does not expire until Jan. 31, 2020.

Seals was officially hired as county administrator in December 2016, after serving five months as interim administrator. At the time, County Council gave him a three-year contract, though council members have the right to vote to terminate the contract at any time before its end.

His firing came suddenly and contentiously Tuesday night, with an unannounced 6-5 vote taken by council at the end of a nearly five-hour meeting.

Reached by The State on Wednesday, Seals said he would not be speaking with the media until Thursday, when he is considering holding a press conference.

Seals could now be owed one years' worth of his salary — $184,000 — in addition to a payout for all unused leave time he has accrued, plus six months of continued health insurance coverage.

However, the county would not have to pay severance to Seals if it is determined that Seals was fired "for cause." According to the contract, "cause" would include any criminal conviction of the employee, insubordination by failing to carry out County Council directives, or other misconduct deemed a violation of professional or ethical standards.

It is not clear whether any of those situations apply to Seals' firing.

At least one council member who did not vote to fire Seals, Bill Malinowski, raised a question about whether there were conditions in Seals' contract that could negatively impact the county if Seals was terminated.

The details of Seals' contract were not immediately available to council members at the time of Tuesday's vote. The contract was provided to The State newspaper by the county on Wednesday.

This story was originally published April 4, 2018 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Richland County could owe fired administrator more than $184,000."