Richard Bean, the former superintendent of the county’s juvenile detention center that bears his name, has settled his lawsuit against the county, according to court documents filed Oct. 14.
Bean sought $5 million, though the terms of the settlement were not included in the court filing. His attorney, Arthur Knight III, declined to comment or provide the settlement amount. Deputy Law Director David Sanders declined to comment on the settlement.
Bean abruptly resigned as superintendent in May 2025 after Knox News reported he fired the facility's only qualified medical professional and only information technology specialist after they blew the whistle about the facility’s woefully inadequate care.
The firing exposed longstanding problems at the facility
for children and teens accused or found guilty of crimes.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin pressured Bean to rehire the staffers, which he did, and Bean retired three days later. He made it clear in his resignation letter he was frustrated with Jacobs and Irwin.
Bean, 86, called his forced resignation unlawful and said the county violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights because county officials damaged his reputation and discriminated against him because of his age.
Other lawsuit settlements
Former Knox County juvenile detention facility employees Dolly Mack and Mary Dailey both settled lawsuits against the county and facility leadership after saying they faced discrimination by the center's new leaders because they were longtime employees of Bean.
Neither women, both of whom had worked decades at the facility, had medical and physical limitations that kept them from performing physically demanding tasks and both were injured on the job trying to perform those tasks, they said in the suits.
In addition to those suits, at least three others have been filed.
- 11 current and former employees sued the county in May saying they had been singled out for discipline by the facility’s new leadership.
- Former employee Antonio Smith sued the county in December saying he faced racial discrimination.
- Twila Hulett, a former captain at the facility, sued the county, saying she faced sexual discrimination and harassment – mostly by other employees who, she said, started and spread false rumors she was having sexual relationships with subordinates.
Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Email: tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com; X: @tyler_whetstone; Signal: twhetstone141924.39
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Richard Bean, former Knox County juvenile detention center director, settles lawsuit
