A former Hale County administrator, who claimed she was fired in 2013 during a "purge" of white employees, was awarded $136,600 by a federal jury this week on her breach of contract, wrongful termination, and due process claims.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Callie V. S. Granade had previously dismissed former Hale County Administrator Tricia Galbreath's other claims, which included that she was fired based on racial and age discrimination.

In its verdict Monday the jury awarded Galbreath $8,000 to compensate her for any emotional pain and mental anguish she suffered and compensatory damages of $128,600.

Efforts to reach attorneys for Galbreath, the Hale County Commission and county probate judge Arthur Crawford were unsuccessful prior to publication of this story.

Galbreath filed a lawsuit in 2015 against Crawford and the commission. Crawford also serves as county commission chairman.

Crawford, who is African American, was elected Hale County Probate Judge in November 2012, defeating the three-term incumbent following a write-in campaign. Crawford had initially won the Democratic primary over the incumbent but was subsequently ordered removed from the ballot by an Alabama court for failing to comply with campaign disclosure laws.

"Following Crawford's election, Crawford and the Commission 'began a systemic purging of white county employees,' terminating Galbreath, the then-Chief Clerk of the Probate Court, and the then-County Attorney," according to a federal magistrate ruling in September 2015 in the case recommending the age and race claims be dismissed. "Each of these county employees was replaced by an African-American. Galbreath's and the then-County Attorney's replacements were also younger than them."

Galbreath and the then-county attorney were both terminated at a commission executive session meeting on June 18, 2013, according to the magistrate judge's ruling. "Galbreath was not given any prior notice that she was going to be terminated or disciplined in any way. Instead, she was called into the meeting under the guise of discussing performance issues and an 'improvement plan,'" the judge wrote. The reasons given for her firing included absenteeism, failure to carry out duties, and use of foul language, but none of the commissioners had ever raised any of the issues presented to Galbreath, nor did they or anyone acting on their behalf ever give any indication that Galbreath was not performing to their expectations or was otherwise failing to perform her duties, the judge stated in that recommendation.

The former probate clerk, Ann Langford in 2016 was awarded $110,230 by a jury last year. Hale County has appealed that verdict.

Hale County, which is south of Tuscaloosa, has a population of 14,952, according to 2016 U.S. Census data. That's about a 5 percent drop in population from 2010. The county's population is 59 percent black, according to census data.