Draugelis had more than three years left in his four-year contract, which included an annual salary of $105,000 and was set to expire Feb. 20, 2029.
Village council approved the unexpected resignation, along with a then-undisclosed separation agreement, on Sept. 16.
Draugelis is set to receive a total estimated $52,500, minus taxes and withholdings, distributed in regular payroll installments, throughout the six-month period following his Sept. 16 resignation date, according to the agreement.
The village will also continue to pay for medical, vision, and dental insurance coverage over that same time period or until Draugelis gains employment elsewhere.
Council has not offered a reason for his exit, and the separation agreement includes a confidentiality clause preventing Draugelis from commenting publicly on his departure.
The agreement also includes a release of claims clause and a covenant not to sue, preventing either party from filing any claims against the other.
Council has appointed office administrator Shannon Bemis as interim village manager.
Bemis was hired by the village in 2024 on a part-time basis as clerk of council before transitioning to a full-time role as office administrator.
She is now the fifth person to be appointed village manager in an 18-month period following the unexpected firing of former manager Glena Madden in early 2024.
Ongoing legal battles
The village is embroiled in multiple legal proceedings filed by scorned employees in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
Complaints have been submitted separately by Madden and former chiefs of police Curtis Hensley, who was fired alongside Madden, and Jim Chambers.
Chambers had been appointed to replace Hensley, before he was subsequently fired himself three months later.
Co-defendants on all three complaints include Mayor David Nickerson, Bemis, the municipality as a whole, law director Michael McNamee, and council members Nicole Adkins, Timothy Back, and Melissa Sexton.
Allegations in these cases include breach of contract, deprivation of rights, defamation, tortious interference with employment relationship. and promissory estoppel.
Chambers’ case also alleges interference under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), as he claims he was fired just two days after he was approved for FMLA leave, respite he said he applied for due to work-related stress, court records show.
Chambers also accuses the village and co-defendants of malicious prosecution, civil conspiracy, and retaliation in violation of Ohio’s whistleblower statute.
In Hensley’s case, McNamee in August requested and was granted summary judgment in his favor as to Hensley’s claims of defamation and tortious interference with an employment relationship
Hensley and his legal council have filed an appeal against this ruling in Ohio’s Second District Court of Appeals.
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