At what cost?

So what did it cost the taxpayers of Rainy River to dismiss and undissmiss a long time employee?
This past Monday evening the Town Council of Rainy River passed a bylaw approving a settlement with their former Town Administrator Debbie Bowman. However, very few of details of the settlement were released.
Legal costs by the town were not available at the meeting, but were surely in the tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, as the case went on for more than a year.
All for what? According to the settlement the employee basically received her job back and her retirement.
It appears that the Town must have been at fault when dismissing her. After all the bylaw firing her was repealed and she was granted authorized leave over the next 20 months until retirement.
More than two years of fighting and nearly as long in legal costs. In the end the employee got her job back and the taxpayers got a big legal bill.
In our view, it cost the community a great deal more than just money. The scars of such a fight will not go away quickly.
Integrity on both sides was put into question. In the end there are no real answers as to who was in the wrong as it is all confidential.
Now we all pay, both financially and emotionally, but at least it is over an the healing can begin.