Federal lawsuit accuses Ottawa County Parks Department of sex discrimination, retaliation
A civil rights lawsuit filed on July 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan alleges a pattern of sex discrimination and retaliatory culture within Ottawa County’s Parks and Recreation Department.
OTTAWA COUNTY — A civil rights lawsuit filed on July 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan alleges a pattern of sex discrimination and retaliatory culture within Ottawa County’s Parks and Recreation Department.
The lawsuit was brought by Cecilia “Cia” Segerlind, a longtime administrative employee for the county's parks department. It names both Ottawa County and Jason Shamblin, the director of the Parks and Recreation Department, as defendants.
Representing Segerlind is attorney Sarah Riley-Howard (alongside co-counsel Shoran Reid Williams) of the Grand Rapids law firm Pinsky Smith. For Howard, the suit represents the latest salvo in a series of high-profile legal actions targeting Ottawa County's administrative leadership and human resources practices in recent years.
Allegations of marginalization, a 'boy's club' culture
According to court filings, Segerlind began working as a Parks Department secretary in September 2021.
In 2024, after noticing that her job duties had expanded significantly beyond her formal title and pay scale, she submitted a request to restructure her job description and compensation.
The complaint alleges that while Shamblin approved a similar reclassification and pay raise for a male colleague — Aaron Bodbyl-Mast, who assisted Segerlind with her proposal — he refused to consider Segerlind's request.
Segerlind subsequently raised internal concerns that Shamblin fostered a work environment where male staff members were favored, writing in a May 2025 formal memo that:
"Women employees are frequently silenced in meetings. ... It is clear that our opinions are not welcomed at the table, while men's opinions are valued as statements of fact ... regardless of whether they are accurate or true."
Retaliation, constructive termination
The complaint details a series of adverse actions allegedly taken against Segerlind after she voiced concerns about sex discrimination, culminating in what her attorneys classify as constructive termination.
She said after making the 2025 complaint, her core duties and responsibilities, such as managing the department's Special Use Permit and Incident Report databases and key card access, were gradually reassigned to other personnel.
Segerlind, a mother of school-age children who originally held a Monday-Friday first-shift schedule, said she also was reassigned to a schedule requiring Saturday shifts at a secondary location.
After applying for multiple internal county promotions — including positions within the county administrator’s office and corporate counsel — Segerlind said she was consistently passed over without receiving interviews.
Following her HR inquiries, Segerlind said Shamblin allegedly initiated surprise meetings where he berated her, accused her of not being a "team player" and placed formal disciplinary write-ups in her personnel file on grounds of insubordination.
Pattern of governance issues, HR controversies
The complaint links Segerlind's experience to broader administrative dysfunction under former Ottawa County Board Chair Joe Moss and political appointee Ben Wetmore.
Specifically, the lawsuit highlights how former interim HR Director Zac VanOsdol — unanimously recommended for permanent appointment by a hiring committee — was passed over after reporting potentially unlawful conduct by Wetmore. Subsequently, Scott Hawkes was brought in as HR director in December 2024.
Segerlind alleges that Hawkes conducted a "cursory, wholly inadequate investigation" into her sex discrimination claims, failing to interview her direct female supervisor while subjecting Segerlind to hours of interrogation.
Wetmore received a controversial settlement for $175,000 from the county in December 2024, just weeks before Moss — the leader of the board's far-right faction known as Ottawa Impact — was set to lose control of the board's majority.
Read More: County: HR director who received $40K severance deal had no complaints, discipline on record
Hawkes received a severance agreement from the county worth just over $40,000 in June of this year, with no public discussion.
Howard's history with Ottawa County
Howard has established herself as a prominent legal adversary to the county's leadership, representing several former high-level officials alleging wrongful termination, political retaliation and civil rights violations.
Among the notable suits Howard and her firm have filed against the county since 2023:
- Adeline Hambley: Represented Ottawa County's administrative health officer in multi-stage circuit court litigation over authority, termination hearings, and attempts to enforce a tentative separation agreement. The county settled with Hambley in February 2024, allowing her to remain in her role and paying for her attorney's fees of $188,000.
- Pastor Jared Cramer: Represented local pastor Jared Cramer in a federal First Amendment religious discrimination lawsuit regarding the board's invocation policies. The county settled with Cramer, agreeing to pay $100,000, which Cramer then donated to two separate charities.
- FOIA public records: Represented residents Adrea Hill and Luke Sanner in a 20th Circuit Court complaint targeting unfulfilled public records requests. The county settled with Hill and Sanner in September 2025 for $21,000.
- Open Meetings Act/severances challenge: Represented resident Dan Zimmer in challenging the legality of the severance agreements with Wetmore ($175,000) and former administrative aide Jordan Epperson, who received $100,000. To settle the case, the county agreed to pay a $500 fine and paid for Zimmer's attorney's fees, which totaled $18,000.
- Chris Kleinjans: In June 2024, then-county commissioner Chris Kleinjans sued Michigan State University Extension Office for wrongful termination, and later added Moss as a defendant for threatening to cancel the university's business relationship with the county if the school didn't fire Kleinjans. The county settled its portion of the lawsuit in December 2025 for $112,000.
Howard's latest complaint on behalf of Segerlind alleges violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit requests that the court declare Segerlind constructively terminated, restore her to her former position and shift, and award economic, compensatory, and punitive damages.
A jury trial has been requested.
The county has until Sept. 22 to file its response to the lawsuit.
— Sarah Leach is the executive editor of the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at sleach@ottawanewsnetwork.org. Follow her on Twitter @ONNLeach.
