Campbell County has agreed to pay $700,000 to Terri Lesley, its former library director, according to a settlement agreement shared with Wyoming Public Radio.
Lesley alleged in a lawsuit filed earlier this year that the county removed her for defending LGBTQ+ materials. The county denied her allegations.
"It's been a really long journey," Lesley said. "It's been hard, very hard, to go through, and it just feels glorious to be past it and to have what I feel is the right resolution."
Lesley had worked in the Campbell County Public Library System for almost 30 years, serving as its executive director for more than a decade. She became the target of angry local activists for recognizing Pride Month in a 2021 social media post and later refusing to remove books about LGBTQ+ youth from the children's section.
"I just wanted to do what any librarian would do in my shoes and just protect the access," Lesley said. "But as things went along, it got tougher and tougher. We had two years of conflict on this topic."
In 2023, she was fired. Lesley sued the government officials who removed her, as well as those who failed to stop her removal. She alleged county leaders violated her free speech rights when they acquiesced to "a small fraction of the community" who "relentlessly and maliciously mischaracterized" her.
"Instead of rejecting this campaign of fear and hate, Defendants aligned themselves with it," the original complaint alleges. "Defendants continually subjected Ms. Lesley to a hostile work environment and ultimately terminated her because she refused to remove the books that a narrow subset of residents challenged for their LGBTQ+ themes and because she engaged with, welcomed, and did not discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals in access to [the library and its services]."
The county and its representatives denied that allegation in court documents, alleging Lesley was fired for unspecified "concerns with her performance as Director."
"Lesley was not terminated because of any association with LGBTQ+ people," the defendants' response states. "Lesley was not terminated in retaliation for engaging in protected activity. Lesley was not terminated in anticipation that she would engage in protected activity or opposition to discrimination. Finally, Lesley did not advocate for protected class members and such an allegation had nothing to do with her termination. There were multiple, legitimate, non-retaliatory rationales for Lesley's termination."
The settlement itself notes the defendants will not admit to any wrongdoing.
"It is understood that this is a settlement of disputed claims and is not to be construed as an admission of liability by any party … but rather a compromise of a disputed claim in order to avoid the expense and trouble of further investigation and litigation," the settlement states.
A separate lawsuit Lesley brought against the local activists who targeted her is still ongoing, with a jury trial set for March.
