CARBONDALE, Colorado — The town of Carbondale has reached a $50,000 settlement with a former utilities department employee who claimed he was wrongfully terminated from his job in early 2006.

Tom McClelland, a water and wastewater department supervisor from November 2005 until he was let go in January 2006, filed a lawsuit later that year against the town and then-Carbondale Utilities Director Ed Fortner.

McClelland claimed he was fired in retaliation for blowing the whistle on Fortner over a deer poaching incident the previous fall, and Fortner’s use of public resources to get rid of the deer carcass.

The wrongful termination case had been set to go to trial later this month in Garfield County District Court. The settlement was reached through a pre-trial mediation in Denver, town attorney Mark Hamilton informed the Carbondale Board of Trustees Tuesday night. The town board approved the settlement, 5-1.

Other terms of the settlement agreement are confidential, Hamilton said.

“There was a recognition that, though the (town’s insurance carrier) didn’t perceive that the town had much exposure, if the case went to trial the expenses would have certainly exceeded that amount,” he said. “We are pleased to have it resolved, and there is no ill will. We wanted to bring it to closure in a way that was cost effective.”

According to the McClelland’s lawsuit, a town employee under his supervision had advised McClelland that Fortner ordered town employees to dispose of the carcass using a town vehicle during work hours.

McClelland said he brought the matter up with Fortner, and Fortner later allegedly confronted McClelland, shouting, “You should have never questioned me about that goddamn deer!” Another verbal exchange over the matter between the two occurred on Jan. 16, 2006, and four days later McClelland was let go.

Fortner was later cited by the Colorado Division of Wildlife over the deer poaching incident, pleaded guilty in Pitkin County Court, and paid a fine. Fortner was also placed on two weeks unpaid leave by the town. He resigned last August.

Another water/wastewater department employee claim by Rich Poulin, who had filed an age discrimination claim against the town, was also settled about the same time.

The McClelland settlement marks the first time in a number of years that the town doesn’t have any pending lawsuits, aside from some routine water rights issues, Hamilton said. The town also recently received payment of nearly $58,000 in damages and court costs related to a court ruling in the town’s favor in the Gary Snook water contamination case. Snook, who owns property above the town’s Nettle Creek water treatment plant, was found negligent for doing dirt work near the creek and using chemical herbicides that were contaminating the water supply.