By Parker Leavitt | The Arizona Republic
Gilbert officials have agreed to a $65,000 settlement with former Water Manager Chris Ochs, who was fired last year in a personnel move deemed “arbitrary and capricious” by a hearing officer last month.
Ochs lost his job in September amid a public controversy related to the prolonged shutdown of the town’s fluoridation system, but he appeared to win his job back after a successful appeal to a third-party arbitrator as allowed by Gilbert’s personnel rules.
Scottsdale attorney Steven Guttell cited a disparity in the way Ochs was punished for his role in the controversy compared to other employees who also knew of the fluoridation stoppage and ordered the town to give Ochs his job — and $96,000 salary — back.
