Deal is unlikely in claim against state

Monday, July 28, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- State Human Resources Director Mike Willden says the state won't pay several million dollars to a former welfare worker who won a preliminary decision in the U.S. Supreme Court over the question of family leave.

Willden said Friday he wants to go to trial on William Hibbs' claim that the state violated the Family Medical Leave Act when he was fired in 1996 for taking time off to care for his ailing wife.

Hibbs, who now lives with his wife, Dianne, in White Pine County, wants to return to work for the state, and he has offered a settlement. But Treva Hearne, Reno attorney for Hibbs, said she's ready to go to trial if the state turns down the offer.

Neither side would disclose how much Hibbs is asking for, but it is several million dollars, Hibbs said.

In his settlement offer Hibbs said his Washington, D.C., attorneys would be willing to give up their $1.4 million fees if his job were returned, according to his attorney.

Hearne said she has requested U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben in Reno to set a time for a mediation meeting as a prelude to a trial.

Willden said he was confident the state would prevail in a trial. Hibbs got 18 weeks off, more than the 12 weeks allowed by the federal Family Medical Leave Act, the director said.

He and state Welfare Administrator Nancy Ford want to proceed with the trial, Willden said.

But Deputy Attorney General Charles Hilsabeck, who is handling the case, said a decision has not been made whether to settle.

Hilsabeck said the case is still making its way back from the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled Nevada could not claim sovereign immunity from the suit filed by Hibbs. It will be returned to the federal district court in Reno.

Dianne Hibbs was injured in an auto accident and William Hibbs sought leave. Hearne argued Hibbs, under the law, could have taken six months off. Instead Hibbs suffered retaliation when he asked for the time, Hearne said.

In his suit Hibbs accused the state of sex discrimination, saying a female worker would have been granted leave to care for a family member.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Hibbs submitted the offer to settle and to return to work for the state, possibly at the state prison in Ely.