In April of 2025, Terri Lesley, former director of the Campbell County Public Library filed a lawsuit against Campbell County, its library board, Commissioners Del Shelstad and Coleen Faber, and Library Board Members Sage Bear (wife of Rep. John Bear), Charles Butler, Chelsie Collier and Darcie Lyon.
In that lawsuit, Ms. Lesley alleged retaliatory violation of her civil rights, discrimination, anticipatory retaliation based on sexual orientation, discrimination and retaliation based on protected speech and association, and conspiracy under the Ku Klux Klan Act.
Last week, all of the named defendants agreed to settle the lawsuit and pay former director, Lesley, $700,000. The settlement agreement, as is typical of most settlement agreements, said that none of the parties admitted doing anything wrong.
The settlement made national news and embarrassed Campbell County.
Rep. John Bear immediately took to social media and said; “[I]t is clear that the terminated librarian was more concerned about fleecing her prior employer than the supposed altruistic motive of standing up for LGBTQ rights. She initiated the settlement negotiations. I don’t believe that the county insurance company (who paid the settlement) or the companies attorneys should have settled this case, but I understand the business decision to keep costs of frivolous litigation minimized. The reality is that Campbell County Public Libraries are the first in the nation to stop the left’s onslaught on the innocence of children by moving books that are sexually explicit to the adult section of the library. Is a $700k insurance settlement too much to save our children?”
So, what the esteemed Rep. Bear wants us to believe is that with no evidence of wrongdoing at all, Campbell County’s insurance carrier voluntarily paid $700 thousand dollars to Director Lesley and it did so without the consent of any of the named defendants.
He wants us to believe that the county’s insurance company forced this settlement down the throats of the named defendants, including Bear’s wife and Campbell County.
Horse feathers.
In 41 years of practicing law, I have never seen an insurance company settle a case without the consent of all the insureds. If these insureds were so cocksure of their position, they could have forced the case to go to trial.
The mediation is confidential. We will never get to know what went on behind closed doors.
The people who mediated the dispute knew all the facts. They elected to settle.
What we do know is insurance companies never pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle nuisance claims.
So, to justify the settlement, Bear victim shames Terri Lesley. He says Lesley “more concerned about fleecing her prior employer than the supposed altruistic motive of standing up for LGBTQ rights.”
Of course, he fails to mention Lesley was wrongfully fired from her job.
Bear fails to mention that Lesley was protecting the First Amendment rights of everyone, not just a select few religious elitists.
Bear fails to mention that by settling the case, his wife was dismissed as a defendant in the lawsuit. The money was paid on Bear’s wife’s behalf! Who is really fleecing the taxpayers?
Instead of being contrite about costing Campbell County nearly seven figures, Bear says, “Is a $700k settlement too much to save our children?”
As a purported budget hawk, Bear is pretty flippant with the people’s money for a political cause. Rest assured Campbell County taxpayers will fund this settlement with increased premiums.
The truth is firing Lesley didn’t do squat for children. Everyone reading this column has done so via an electronic device. Exposure to bad influences on the internet is ubiquitous.
No child is safer because every child has access to an electronic device, these days. Just Google the book, “Sex is a funny word” which is one of the books at the heart of this controversy.
If a child wants this particular book, the child can watch a video of someone reading it to them, online -- free and on demand.
Of course, there is no mention of the far worse influences waiting out on the web. Firing Lesley was a political crusade, not an effort to protect children.
Then, Bear attacks the insurance company for settling the case, despite Sage Bear, Campbell County and others being dismissed from the lawsuit after their insurance company paid SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS on their behalf to get them out of the lawsuit.
Could it possibly be the case the insurance company realized there were serious indefensible violations of Terri Lesley’s constitutional rights? Could it be they worked out a voluntary settlement of those claims between ALL the defendants and Ms. Lesley?
There are 700,000 reasons the Campbell County Library Board should be apologizing for its actions. Don’t hold your breath.
Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 - 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com
