Napa County settles lawsuit with former CEO Minh Tran
Napa County has settled the legal dispute with its former top administrator for $95,000, a few days after a civil trial to resolve the matter had begun in Napa.
The Napa County Board of Supervisors on Thursday unanimously voted to pay former Napa County CEO Minh Tran $20,295.13 and another $74,704.87 in legal fees and other costs, Napa County officials said Thursday.
In exchange, Tran, whom the Board of Supervisors fired in 2022, has agreed to dismiss the case. Thursday’s settlement was announced at the end of the Board of Supervisors’ closed session.
“The board concluded that settlement is a responsible way to control costs and allow the county to remain focused on serving our community,” said Amber Manfree, chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, reading from a prepared statement.
A motion to dismiss the lawsuit is scheduled for Feb. 19 in Napa County Superior Court.
A spokesperson for Napa County on Friday said that the settlement “represents the conclusion on this matter and resolves all outstanding issues.”
Thursday’s announcement came a day after Napa County Superior Court Judge dismissed the jury seated to hear the case, saying the parties had reached a “conditional resolution,” according to court records. Arguments had begun Monday.
Tran was fired for no cause in July 2022 and placed on a three-month leave of absence.
In December 2023, Tran sued Napa County over $467,000 in severance pay and accrued leave – a total of $487,000 under the terms of his contract, according to court records.
In its July 2022 termination letter to Tran, Napa County said Tran would be entitled to severance pay under his contract, according to a court filing. The board also said it understood Tran was in line for a position as the Riverside County Counsel and wished him “the very best of luck in that and future endeavors.”
Napa County refused to pay the money after learning that Tran had applied and accepted a position at the County of Riverside “before his employment had been terminated in Napa,” according to a court brief filed by Napa County. “Severance pay is not intended to enrich a person with a payout after securing other employment,” the brief read.
Tran said in a court filing he accepted a conditional offer with Riverside in June 2022 because he was “being ousted from his CEO position” by Napa County. The conditional offer could be revoked before the Riverside Board of Supervisors formally approved it, Tran said in court records.
Tran officially became Riverside County’s county counsel in August 2022.
Tran said he had been searching for employment “only because of an orchestrated campaign by certain Napa County Board members to oust him from his position as the County Executive Officer which he was willing and able to perform,” according to court records.
Tran said he was tasked in 2021 by the Napa County Board of Supervisor to hire a law firm to investigate an incident involving Supervisor Belia Ramos. Ramos was 42 in January 2021 when she received a dose of COViD-19 vaccine at a public clinic. The vaccine at the time was set aside for people 65 and older. Ramos said in her defense that the dose would have been otherwise unused.
Tran said Supervisor Belia Ramos accused him of “not being loyal” to her during the controversy because he “would not make false statements in her defense,” according to a court brief.
Before he was terminated, Tran told Napa County’s Board of Supervisors that he wanted to remain in his position for several reasons, including that his father was dying; a daughter wanted to finish high school in Napa; his pay as CEO was higher than the one offered in Riverside County; and his position as CEO in Napa carried more authority than county counsel in Riverside County.
Tran was serving as Napa County counsel when he was appointed Napa County’s interim CEO in May 2017 after the prior chief executive, Leanne Links, was fired. Tran became the county’s permanent CEO in October 2017.
A representative for Tran could not be reached to comment on the settlement.
