Wrongful termination lawsuits have been filed by three former city employees which allege that they were forced out of their jobs when it was discovered they gave Grand Jury testimony of wrong-doing during an investigation of then City Manager Jerry Hanson.

The lawsuits were filed on behalf of former Police Chief Roy Hill, along with former City Development Services Manager, Kathy Ward and Laurie Scully, former City Human Resources Department head. These filings contend that the City of Desert Hot Springs was in violation of California labor law when it retaliated against the three for disclosing information to a government agency or a law enforcement agency.

In providing information to the FBI and the Riverside County District attorney’s office in August of 2004, the three named Jerry Hanson, who was Desert Hot Springs City Manager at the time, for his real estate dealings, fraudulent employment filings by city employees and his own contracts with the city, written by Hanson, himself.  Hanson has always denied he did anything wrong, since his salary was disclosed to the public, subsequently revealing he had purchased land in an area near a proposed major development, which was planned in Desert Hot Springs.

Chief Roy Hill who was terminated in March of 2005, has to this day, never been able to get an explanation for his release from duty with the city, and is certain his firing was due to his speaking with the authorities.

A hostile work environment is the contention of Kathy Ward and Laura Scully suggesting that Hanson and employees whom he controlled harassed the two women for speaking up.

Hanson, who left the city for retirement in August of 2005, is still under investigation by Riverside County Grand Jury and the state Fair Political Practices Commission on allegations of misconduct, grounds of alleged conflicts of interest and his unusually grand compensation package.