BELLEVILLE – Frank Bergman, who served as St. Clair County’s human resource director for 12 years, has resigned from his position.
Neither he nor the county announced his departure, and county employees said they were surprised.
County Board Chairman Mark Kern didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Bergman started working for the county after eight years as mayor of Cahokia.
On Sept. 25, the County Board’s Judiciary Committee also accepted Bergman’s resignation as the county’s representative on the Metro East Park and Recreation Board.
After the meeting, committee chair Scott Tieman said, “I’m not sure what happened to him.”
“I asked that question, too. I don’t know what happened,” he said.
His committee reappointed Bergman in January.
The county website identifies Ann Barnum as Bergman’s replacement.
Barnum also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Online obituaries identify her mother Betty Martz as sister of Florence Baricevic, making Barnum a first cousin of former St. Clair County chief judge John Baricevic.
Bergman and Barnum were both mentioned in a discrimination suit that a black former employee, Aritha Stanley-Adams, filed in U.S. district court last year.
Stanley-Adams' counsel Sarah Hunt of St. Louis claimed assessor Jennifer Gomric-Minton, Barnum, and Bergman paid Stanley-Adams less than whites throughout her employment.
Hunt didn’t name individuals as defendants but attributed their actions to the county.
She claimed Barnum supervised Stanley-Adams from 2007 until the county forced her into early retirement.
She also claimed the county refused to promote Stanley-Adams but promoted less qualified white employees.
Hunt alleged Stanley-Adams became ill, and Barnum accused her of avoiding work by being in the bathroom too long.
“Plaintiff told Ms. Barnum she was sick, but Ms. Barnum did not care,” she said.
Hunt claimed assessor Jennifer Gomric-Minton and Barnum dismissed her complaints, denying any racial disparity.
She claimed they didn’t investigate or pass her complaints up the chain of command.
She also claimed Stanley-Adams found out the denials were untrue when she gained access to the county’s pay registers.
Former magistrate judge Stephen Williams successfully mediated the case last October.