Terminated Loudoun County Assessor Todd Kaufman officially left his job in June with more than $16,000 in compensation.

Now the former assessor is asking for $10 million in damages in a defamation of character lawsuit against three county employees and the mediation firm used during negotiations before his contract was terminated.

The suit, filed July 2 in Loudoun County Circuit Court, brings to light scathing allegations against Kaufman, including complaints of sexual harassment, sexism, religious insensitivity, a hostile work environment, workplace violence and misuse of county equipment.

Kaufman denies the allegations, which he says was a conspiracy by a disgruntled employee to get him fired, and is requesting a jury trial to resolve the issue.

“The allegations speak for themselves. He was hired to do a job and he did it. He created a county assessor’s office that is now one of the best in Virginia. Mr. Kaufman feels strongly about how the county officials handled the situation and feels they should be held accountable for it,“said Kaufman’s Reston-based attorney Peter Cohen.

John Nelson, the supervising appraiser of the commercial division in the county assessor’s office; County Administrator Tim Hemstreet; County Attorney John Roberts; and James Cross, a mediator with Manassas-based Crossroads Mediation Services Inc. are named as defendants in the case.

The County Administrator’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case, saying they can’t speak on pending litigation.

The allegations

Kaufman accuses the defendants of defamation, tortious interference with contract expectancy, gross and willful and wanton negligence and civil conspiracy.

The lawsuit alleges that Nelson, who’s described as a disgruntled employee, on March 27 gave an anonymous letter to Hemstreet that accused Kaufman of potentially criminal acts, violation of county policies, insubordination, creation of a hostile work environment, discriminatory practices based on age, ethnicity or religious beliefs, sexual harassment and threats of physical violence.

Cohen, Kaufman’s attorney, denies all the allegations in the lawsuit and says his client’s reputation was tarnished when he was placed on administrative leave on April 18 during an internal investigation.

Kaufman was hired in 2005 to help the county assessor’s office, which at the time was in a dysfunctional state, the lawsuit says, and succeeded in identifying and fixing many problems.

In 2005, Kaufman audited the real property portfolio to the finalization of the 2006 reassessment and discovered a shortfall of about $18 billion, the lawsuit says. He maintained a level of assessment average of 97 percent from 2006 to 2011. Among other accomplishments, the lawsuit said Kaufman consistently received excellent performance reviews.

The assessor’s contract was terminated June 5 by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors with little explanation to the public. Kaufman, who was slated to make $147,000 in 2012, earned more than $17,000 while on administrative leave.

No notification

According to the lawsuit, Kaufman was only told he was being placed on administrative leave to “investigate allegations of serious misconduct.” Kaufman asked what the allegations against him were, but Hemstreet declined to tell him.

Prior to that, Kaufman alleges he had never been told of any allegations of misconduct.

On May 10, the mediator, Cross, met with Kaufman for four hours, during which time Cross allegedly confirmed Nelson had submitted the complaint.

During the meeting, according to the lawsuit, the mediator said he agreed that Nelson’s complaint was a “drive by shooting” by a disgruntled employee, the complaint had no merit and the allegations did not create a “hostile” work environment.

Kaufman on May 14 responded to the allegations against him by sending a letter to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, asking they meet with him.  Hemstreet and Roberts recommended to the board that they not speak with Kaufman.

Once the mediator’s report reached the Board of Supervisors, Kaufman alleges the document did not accurately reflect their May 10 conversation.

On May 21, Kaufman responded in writing to Cross’ report and once again invited the Board of Supervisors to meet with him. Once again, based on Hemstreet and Roberts’ recommendations, the board declined.

Alleged employee complaints

In his letter, Nelson accused Kaufman of using his county vehicle for personal use, including driving his dog to locations throughout Virginia and Maryland.
At one time, someone saw Kaufman’s vehicle parked with the windows rolled up and the dog locked inside and called the Sheriff’s Office for assistance, fearing for the animal’s safety on a hot day, according to the letter.

On another day, an employee who accompanied Kaufman to Purcellville for a site inspection reportedly said the vehicle was so full of dog hair and dander that she became sick.

Nelson also accused Kaufman of making derogatory statements in staff meetings against his supervisors, including referring to Hemstreet’s Leadership Meetings as “Tim’s lack of leadership meetings.’ He also called the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors the “Board of stupid visors.”

One employee, according to Nelson’s letter, accused Kaufman of mocking her religion, saying “let’s see your Christian God get you out of this.” During several staff meetings between March 9 and March 16, Kaufman reportedly asked all staff members one-by-one to identify their religious beliefs. He’s also accused of calling “the Greeks a bunch of crazies” and mocking an employee’s German accent.

On July 29, 2011, Nelson said Kaufman asked an employee during a meeting if she was acting “emotionally and crazy because she was going through menopause.”

Nelson’s letter also accuses Kaufman of several incidents of sexual harassment, including asking female employees to “rub up against his face.”

Cross’ report says three employees made this accusation, but the complaints were made at a time when Kaufman had begun to grow a beard. None of the female employees, the report said, characterized the statements as a sexual advance. One said it was clear Kaufman was joking when he made the statement. However, each employee said they believed the comments were inappropriate.

In one instance, a female employee reportedly said she stopped going to the same gym as Kaufman because he would “snuggle up so close behind she felt extremely uncomfortable …”

In another instance Kaufman is accused of shoving a male employee into a wall, causing him to lose his balance, which was “quite painful.”

A disgruntled employee

In the lawsuit, Kaufman says Nelson’s letter was a “tell-tale tactic of a disgruntled employee.”

Nelson, the lawsuit says, had previously been reprimanded and counseled on his performance and conditions relating to inappropriate behavior in the workplace.

As an example, Kaufman says in December 2011, Nelson made a $700 million error on the commercial component of a critical report for which he was responsible. Customers, he said, repeatedly complained about Nelson and his staff’s ability to perform their jobs.

Editor’s note: The information on Kaufman’s salary was recently added to this article.