A settlement has been reached between Frederick County and a woman who said she was fired from her job by State's Attorney Scott Rolle for taking too many sick days.

According to the seven-page agreement bringing the January civil suit to an end, the county will pay Amy Hill-Boyer, a former victim-services coordinator for the state's attorney's office, $40,000 in back pay and benefits.

The parties signed the agreement this month following a mediation session May 19 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore before Judge James Bredar.

Before she was fired Sept. 1, 2005, Ms. Hill-Boyer was confronted by her supervisors about "sick leave abuse" in December 2004, according to the suit.

Diane Seltzer, Ms. Hill-Boyer's lawyer, said the monetary amount corresponds approximately with her client's back pay and benefits since she was fired.

In her 10th year of employment with the prosecutor's office, Ms. Hill-Boyer, 31, earned $45,230 gross pay per year, plus benefits, Ms. Seltzer said.

As a victim-witness coordinator, Ms. Hill-Boyer kept crime victims informed about their cases as they moved through the legal process. She assisted trial attorneys with keeping track of witnesses and explaining legal proceedings to them.

According to the document, signed by Ms. Hill-Boyer and county attorney John Mathias, the parties reached the agreement to avoid additional legal fees and expenses involved in litigation.

As part of the settlement, the county also agreed to pay Ms. Seltzer $15,000 in legal fees. Both parties had objectives met by the settlement. Other conditions included: The county acknowledges that Ms. Hill-Boyer is eligible for rehire with the county; that all records indicating she was terminated and ineligible for rehire be removed from her files and destroyed; that all personnel records now indicate that she resigned from employment; and if rehired, that she be considered to be in the same position she would have been had she voluntarily resigned in reference to sick leave, seniority and other benefits.

Ms. Hill-Boyer acknowledges the county denies her claims of wrongdoing. The county agrees to provide to Ms. Hill-Boyer's potential future employers "an employment confirmation consistent with its standard practices of neutral reference," according to the document. "Frederick County will provide only dates of employment, last salary, last position and a statement that Hill-Boyer voluntarily resigned from her position and is eligible for rehire."

Mr. Mathias said settling the case was the most cost-effective choice the county could make for many reasons. "The reality is, over 95 percent of the cases in federal court are settled without a trial," Mr. Mathias said. "Although ultimately we believe we could have prevailed, the cost of going to trial would have been far greater than the costs of settling it."

Mr. Mathias said going to trial would have affected more than the county's coffers. Going to trial would have monopolized the time of employees of the state's attorney's office, the county and others.

"We'd much rather have our employees doing the jobs they are hired to do, fighting crime and protecting victims, than spending time involved in litigation," Mr. Mathias said.

Ms. Seltzer said she was pleased the case was resolved with a settlement. "I'm glad for what we were able to accomplish and how gracefully Amy did it," Ms. Seltzer said. "She held her head high and handled things beautifully."

Although initially Ms. Seltzer and Ms. Hill-Boyer hoped to get the Frederick woman her job back, that didn't happen - for now.

"Certainly that's something she wanted, but the reality of returning - sometimes it can be very hard to go back," Ms. Seltzer said.

A new state's attorney will take office after the November election because Mr. Rolle is running for Maryland attorney general.

"Things could change," Ms. Seltzer said. "There might be a new opportunity."

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