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Vermillion drops lawsuit against Clark County commissioner Sisolak
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Kathleeen Vermillion
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Feb. 10, 2012 | 8:32 a.m.
Former Henderson City Councilwoman Kathleen Vermillion has dropped the lawsuit she filed three weeks ago against Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak.
The move comes several days after sources close to her family said Vermillion may have attempted suicide. They said she appeared to have overdosed on pills and alcohol.
Neither Vermillion nor her attorney, Robert Martin, responded to requests for comment on the dismissal of the lawsuit.
Vermillion filed the lawsuit Jan. 19 in District Court. Court records show that a notice of voluntary dismissal was filed Thursday.
In the lawsuit, Vermillion had accused Sisolak, her ex-boyfriend, of disseminating her personal health records.
"I'm glad it's dropped, but the lawsuit had no merit when Mr. Martin filed it, and it has no merit today," Sisolak said Thursday.
Last month, Sisolak called the lawsuit an attempt to deflect attention away from allegations that Vermillion, founder and then-chief operating officer of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, had misappropriated funds. Sisolak has been a major contributor to the charity.
The lawsuit came after Arash Ghafoori, then the interim executive director of the partnership, filed a complaint against Vermillion and the charity with the Nevada attorney general's office. In the complaint, Ghafoori accused Vermillion of misappropriating funds of the organization and the city of Henderson.
At the time, Vermillion called the allegations "fake" and said she welcomed an investigation by the attorney general's office. The FBI since has joined the investigation of Vermillion.
According to Ghafoori's complaint, Vermillion had placed him on paid administrative leave.
The partnership's board conducted a December meeting in which Ghafoori's performance was discussed, according to Vermillion's lawsuit. At the meeting, both he and Vermillion agreed to take a drug test.
Vermillion's result "was positive for a synthetic opiate compound," according to her lawsuit.
"Ms. Vermillion had recently taken some pain relievers for a severe migraine headache," the lawsuit said. "Ms. Vermillion obtained a pain reliever from Sisolak's sister, Susan Sisolak, while they were out for dinner."
The document suggested the pills from Sisolak's sister caused the positive test results.
A partnership board member disclosed the results to Sisolak, who disseminated the results "to multiple individuals at the Clark County government offices," the lawsuit alleged.
Sisolak responded at the time by saying, "I have not even seen them myself, much less shared them with anyone."
He also said he had spoken to his sister, and she denied giving Vermillion any drugs.
The claims in Vermillion's lawsuit included negligence as to Sisolak, defamation and invasion of privacy.
Sisolak, 58, said he ended his relationship with Vermillion, 44, in October. The on-again, off-again relationship had begun about five years earlier.
Vermillion resigned from the Henderson City Council on Jan. 3, saying she wanted to spend more time with the charity and her children.
Shortly after she filed her lawsuit, Sisolak filed a report with Las Vegas police that accused Vermillion and her legal team of trying to extort him. An investigation into those allegations is ongoing.
About two weeks ago, Vermillion left her position at the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, and the charity reinstated Ghafoori as executive director.
On Thursday, interim District Attorney Mary-Anne Miller said the county had not been served with Vermillion's lawsuit. She said a voluntary dismissal, filed before the defendants have been served, does not require a judge's approval.
"We're pleased that it's dismissed at this time," she said.
Vermillion's decision to dismiss the case voluntarily does not prevent her from filing the case again in the future.
Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
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Jefferson stroon: I did not know methadone until I read you comment. In case I get headache, I will use a baby aspirin. Erin Kenny is really corrupt. Thanks.
Anyone with migraine (the REAL kind) experience knows that dabbling with methadone is NO pain relief. What a whackadoo. They should throw her on a heap with Erin Kenney and the rest of the corrupt local pols, and that face-kicking cop, and set it ablaze. I'll bring the marshmallows!
Vicki.Qunn: You described about Sisolak excellent in your comment. Commissioner Sisolak had been fooled by Vermillion. He had custody of his daughters after his divorce. That implicates he was a good father to his daughters. He gave Vermillion's daughter fatherly attention. Then Vermillion created a story about her daughter. His two daughters seemed to grew up excellent scholastic children. He was a sucker. Commissioner Sisolak, you may be a lonely single man but when you look around to have next lady companion, please be careful for your daughters' sake. I do hope his daughters ignore their father's goofing 5 years and keep being good students. Ignore your peers if they laugh at you. Good luck for Sislok family.
Commissioner Sisolak, you are an amazing man both for our community and all of those in your personal life. For all you do, thank you.
Sure looks like Kathleen Vermillion made her own problems, now it is time for her to face the music.
What a whack job this lady is. She was willing to use her daughter as a sacrificial lamb to collect BIG bucks from her former lover. They are all Trailer Trash!! REALLY. No doubt, she will not be nominated for "Mother of the Year." Rob Martin should be ashamed for being part of such an obvious scam!!
Oscar.Jones: I found you! I was not wrong. I don't trust those organizations. Some use expensive advertisements to get suckers. I call them as profit organizations. Money laundering is their main business.
Most Charities have highly paid Adminstrators. Charities are Big Business. United Way had many cases of Administrators skimming money over the years. No one ever really knows how much money is missing or misappropriated. Same with Churches. Same with Casinos. Anywhere there are large sums of untracible cash, there is the potential for someone dipping into the pile.
Time to dump Sisolak at the first opportunity.
Helen.Vallejo: this is my feelings. I don't think she is the only one who used 'home less' center for their increased income. For instance, there are so many well paid board of directors. She did for big $$$. They had so many employees which are OK. The organizations collected donations from MGM, etc. Homeless Youth got some help but do they really need so many directors? The organization should get rid of these directors. Then, start from scratch. Fire these money-monger directors. Clark County should not discontinue to help homeless youth. Just start from scratch without disrupting operations. It is more important to help youth than wrong guessing for commissioners' popularity. Are there any commissioners who don't have scandals or without comical actions?