Former state senator reaches settlement with teachers union

CARSON CITY -- Former state Sen. Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson, said Tuesday that she has reached an out-of-court settlement with the Nevada State Education Association in a defamation lawsuit.

Tiffany said she was bound by a settlement agreement not to disclose how much the teachers union paid her to end the case, which began over the union's campaign fliers in 2006 that suggested wrongly she could go to prison for ethics law violations.

Sources said the settlement was for $250,000. Tiffany would not confirm the amount of the settlement.

"I got what I wanted as an economic settlement," Tiffany said. "It was pretty clear they didn't want to go to court. I signed a nondisclosure statement. I am very happy with the settlement."

Lynn Warne, president of the teachers union, did not return a phone call for information on the settlement.

Tiffany, who served 14 years in the Legislature, was defeated by Democrat Joyce Woodhouse in a bid for re-election in November 2006.

At the time Tiffany was facing an Ethics Commission inquiry into whether she used her position as a lawmaker to gain information about online government auctions in other states to benefit her private business.

In the month after her defeat, she admitted to two willful violations of the ethics law and paid a $10,000 fine.

Ethics law violations lead to civil fines and possible removal from office. They are not criminal offenses that could lead to jail time.