Former Colorado undersheriff settles federal lawsuit with sheriff's office over firing for $1.75 million

A former undersheriff in Colorado has settled a federal lawsuit against her former employer after claiming she was unlawfully fired in retaliation for political differences between her and the former sheriff.

Holly Nicholson-Kluth, the former undersheriff of Douglas County, said on Friday that she settled the suit against former Sheriff Tony Spurlock and the county for $1.75 million. Nicholson-Kluth's attorneys call it "one of the largest single-plaintiff employment settlements" in the state.

"I really feel like this settlement, the whole court process has brought out the truth and this settlement has given me some peace that the truth came out and I was justified in taking him to court," said Nicholson-Kluth when she spoke with CBS News Colorado on Friday. 

In the lawsuit, Nicholson-Kluth said she and Spurlock had several political disagreements which, she says, angered Spurlock and led to her demotion in November 2020.

"Sheriff Spurlock endorsed a Demoncrat for commissioner and I did not agree with that. I talked to our county GOP about it, and they asked me for a statement. I did a very professional and neutral Facebook post about my desire to vote for conservative candidates," said Nicholson-Kluth.

She ran for sheriff for the term that would have started after Spurlock's term expired and several months later, in May 2021, she was fired. Her attorneys say the firing lacked due process, violated state law and was done without consulting anyone else in the sheriff's office leadership.

"It was a one day, less than 10 minute meeting and I was gone after 32 years," said Nicholson-Kluth. "I felt it wasn't right. I knew it wasn't right. Unfortunately while running for sheriff, being in a public campaign, many of the allegations that were kind of thrown at me became kind of fodder for the campaign, and sheriff Spurlock said I should not be the Sheriff."

Nicholson-Kluth says fighting the outcome of her termination was a grueling process.  

"It was horrendous," she said. "I think as a law enforcement officer, there is nothing worse than your reputation being harmed."

"The settlement amount reflects the reality that Ms. Kluth's claims had significant merit," her attorneys said in a statement.

According to the lawsuit, Nicholson-Kluth also disagreed with Spurlock's support of so-called "red flag laws" in addition to his public endorsement of a political candidate.

"I felt that his termination of me was a retaliation of me for being a part of the Republican party," she said. 

The outcome of this settlement comes roughly a week before the case was settled to go to trial. 

"I feel there is a reason why they settled for this amount after all of that, just one week before we were to go to federal court," said Nicholson-Kluth.

The former undersheriff says she remains grateful for her family, friends, colleagues and attorneys for being with her throughout this process. 

"If you think that someone has wronged you, you have to fight," she said. 

In response to the settlement, Douglas County Attorney Jeffrey Garcia told CBS News Colorado, "At the direction of our outside counsel and our insurance company, Douglas County agreed to settle this matter, including the denial of any wrongdoing and the settlement amount being paid by our insurance company."

Spurlock, who now serves as chief of the Oklahoma City University campus police department responded late on Friday to the settlement agreement with a statement via text:

"As the two-term elected Sheriff of Douglas County, and a member of law enforcement for 44 years, I have always denied all claims asserted by Holly Nicholson-Kluth in this lawsuit."

The current Douglas County Sheriff declined to comment.