Former Napa County Executive Officer Minh Tran says the county owes him about $667,000, the latest salvo in what has become a protracted dispute between him and his erstwhile employer.

In a claim filed with the county, Tran said he’s entitled to $467,000 in severance pay. He also argued he should receive another $200,000 for more than 1,200 hours in accrued leave from his 13-year tenure with the county.

A claim can be a precursor to a lawsuit.

“The county's standard practice is to refrain from commenting on claims because they may become the subject of litigation,” Napa County spokesperson Holly Dawson said on Tuesday.

Tran couldn’t be reached for comment on Wednesday morning.

The Napa County Board of Supervisors released Tran from the CEO position on July 28, 2022. Supervisors had learned that the Riverside County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to name Tran as county counsel in that county, though that item was abruptly pulled from the Riverside agenda.

At that point, there was no dispute that Tran was eligible for severance pay. Supervisors had released him for reasons not related to his performance or conduct.

Why would Napa County deem Tran eligible for severance pay if Tran was going to take a job elsewhere?

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“My answer to that is he did not disclose his intent to take that position,” Board of Supervisors Chair Ryan Gregory said at the time. “In fact, he said the opposite, which was he preferred to stay. We were interested in a transition immediately, and he left us no choice.”

Tran had a base salary of $25,946 a month. His employment contract with the county called for severance pay totaling 18 months of his salary.

Since then, the Napa Valley Register and Napa County have both obtained emails from Riverside County indicating Tran had agreed to accept the county counsel position there on June 14, 2022 — more than a month before Napa County released him. That put a new twist on the matter.

This past June 6, Napa County supervisors voted to deny severance pay to Tran. Tran had yet to claim the pay.

The severance pay provision in Tran’s contract states he must be “willing and able to perform the duties” of Napa County CEO. By accepting the Riverside County job, he couldn’t fulfill that requirement, Napa County announced in a news release.

But Tran apparently isn’t willing to accept that June decision by Napa County. He filed a claim dated July 17 saying he is entitled to severance pay, accrued leave and attorney’s fees incurred for any proceeding or litigation undertaken.

That latest claim is one of three Tran has filed against Napa County.

He filed his first claim in October 2021, when he was still Napa County CEO. That claim involved disputes he had with Supervisor Belia Ramos that he said had harmed his reputation. He offered to settle for $1, though his claim didn't list the conditions.

Tran filed another claim in January of this year. He devoted almost a full page to disputes with Ramos and how they affected his relationship with other supervisors. He accused the county of “a hostile work environment, retaliation and conspiracy to commit wrongful termination.”

Perhaps these disputes are one reason Tran didn’t immediately claim severance pay. Napa County policy says that severance pay recipients must first waive claims against the county.

In his latest claim, Tran said he presented Napa County with a document entitled "settlement agreement and general release" on March 29 of this year.

Tran came to Napa County in 2009 as assistant county counsel — he had previously worked for Riverside County. He became Napa county counsel in 2012, and then Napa CEO in 2017.

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