Oakland County has agreed to pay $80,000 to settle a wrongful discharge lawsuit brought by David Hieber, the former longtime director of the county's Equalization Department, closing out a legal fight that began with his firing in late 2021 and nearly reached a federal jury trial. County officials approved the settlement on June 29, and Hieber's lawsuit against the county was formally dismissed with prejudice by U.S. Eastern District Court Judge Kay Behm on June 15.
The dismissal, which means Hieber cannot refile his claims, closed out a case that, as reported by MLive.com, originally accused Oakland County and a supervisor, Kyle Jen, of wrongful discharge tied to age discrimination, political-affiliation retaliation, and a lack of due process. The court eventually dropped Jen from the case after finding he had qualified immunity, and dismissed every allegation except the due process claim. County officials said they were pleased with the outcome, according to the same report, and the settlement does not require Oakland County to cover Hieber's legal fees.
A Hiring That Spanned Two Very Different Administrations
Hieber was first hired by Oakland County in 1994, during the tenure of longtime Republican County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, and went on to lead the county's Equalization Department for nearly 20 years, according to FindLaw. Patterson's death in 2019 brought Democratic Executive David Coulter into office, a leadership transition that preceded Hieber's eventual suspension and termination. In December 2020, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners and local municipalities had named Hieber the county's Designated Assessor under a 2018 state law overseeing local assessing compliance, according to the City of Pontiac, underscoring how central his role had become just months before his suspension.
Oakland County suspended Hieber in October 2021 after an employee complained that month about a hostile work environment. A subsequent legal review found that subordinates had accused Hieber of hostility toward workplace diversity initiatives, including criticizing a teacher's request for preferred pronouns during a staff meeting, according to VitalLaw's review of the case. The county fired Hieber on November 23, 2021, and his lawsuit alleged the process leading to that firing denied him meaningful due process.
A Six-Minute Hearing at the Center of the Case
Court records examined by legal analysts showed that Hieber's pretermination hearing lasted only six minutes, with human resources staff telling him it was not the time to plead his case, according to a review published by CaseMine. That detail became pivotal: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in April 2025 that Oakland County's brief hearing and investigatory notice may have violated Hieber's constitutional rights as a merit-system employee entitled to a meaningful opportunity to respond, per FindLaw's coverage of the ruling.
As Equalization Director, Hieber was governed by Oakland County's Merit System Rules, which allowed discipline or discharge only for just cause based on specific, clearly described reasons, a protection that gave him a constitutionally recognized property interest in his job, according to VitalLaw. The appellate panel revived Hieber's procedural due process claim while affirming the dismissal of his age discrimination, First Amendment retaliation, and defamation claims, sending the case back to district court.
Age Bias and Political Retaliation Claims Rejected
Hieber's original lawsuit alleged that Deputy County Executive for Human Resources April Lynch fostered age bias against senior staff, citing witness statements that she referred to older workers as “dead wood” and championed a voluntary early separation incentive program, per court filings reviewed by FindLaw. Those age discrimination claims, along with allegations of political-affiliation retaliation, did not survive the courts' scrutiny and were dismissed on summary judgment.
The case very nearly reached a jury. In March 2026, Judge Behm denied summary judgment on Hieber's remaining due process claim, ruling that a jury would need to determine whether the outcome of his post-termination appeal before the county's Personnel Appeal Board had been predetermined, according to VitalLaw's report on the ruling. That looming trial appears to have pushed both sides toward resolution just months later.
An Earlier Settlement That Didn't Happen
The case could have ended years earlier. Federal court docket filings show Oakland County and Hieber engaged in early settlement negotiations in spring 2022, but county officials initially voted against approving a deal, according to Justia Law, setting the stage for four additional years of appeals and trial preparation before the $80,000 settlement was finally reached.
Hieber did not disappear from public assessment work after his firing. In May 2022, he was appointed municipal assessor for White Lake Township in western Oakland County, a role in which he continued directing local assessment districts through at least May 2025, according to White Lake Township records. Neither Hieber nor his attorneys responded to multiple requests for comment from MLive.com about the settlement.
