Head of Lincoln-based natural resources district put on leave

LINCOLN — The general manager of the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District has been put on leave, with officials saying only that it involves a “personnel matter.”

Mike Sousek, who has served as the district’s general manager for the past two years, was recently suspended from the $178,000-a-year position.

On Wednesday, the Lincoln-based NRD voted to have Assistant General Manager David Potter perform both his job and the general manager’s responsibilities.

Bob Anderson, the chairman of the Lower Platte South NRD Board, told the Examiner on Friday that Sousek’s job status was a “personnel matter,” and he wasn’t able to comment further.

“I want to be sensitive to all parties,” Anderson said.

The suspension of the general manager comes days after the NRD resolved a federal lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination by a candidate for the general manager’s job when Sousek was hired in March of 2023.

McKenzie Barry, who had worked for the Lower Platte South NRD for 22 years, filed the lawsuit claiming that she was bypassed for the NRD’s top job because she was a woman. She also claimed that she was retaliated against after she filed a sex discrimination claim with the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission.

Her lawsuit stated that two members of the committee interviewing candidates for the general manager’s job told her that the agency wasn’t ready to have a female in the top job.

She left the NRD in January, with her lawsuit stating that Sousek told her to clear out her desk a day prior to her last scheduled work day.

U.S. District Court records indicate that Barry’s lawsuit was dismissed on June 13 after a joint motion was filed by the NRD and her attorney, Kathleen Neary of Lincoln. The terms of the dismissal were not revealed.

Neary, when contacted, said only that “the matter has been resolved.”

Anderson, and another board member, David Landis, said they could not comment on whether the job action against Sousek was related to the lawsuit.

The Lower Platte South NRD covers six counties in southeast Nebraska. It operates nine wildlife management areas and maintains 50 miles of recreational trails, along with working with landowners to reduce erosion and manage groundwater use.

Most recently, Sousek and the NRD have been in talks with the Cass County Board about selecting a route for a hike-bike trail to connect the Mo-Pac Trail from Lincoln with the Lied Bridge that spans the Platte River. A recommended route had won approval in the fall, but the board declined recently to give that route final approval.