After 18 months on the job, Schuylkill County Human Resources Director Heidi L. Zula is leaving.

Zula is out of her county office until Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

Although county officials would not return calls Wednesday seeking confirmation, the current human resources director at Harrisburg School District confirmed Zula is on the June 6 agenda to be hired for that job at a salary of $125,000.

Commissioners hired Zula, who worked for 10 years as the human resources director of Middletown Area School District, for $79,000 on Dec. 9, 2020.

She started her county job on Jan. 11, 2021, replacing interim Human Resources director Doreen M. Kutzler, who replaced Deborah A. Twigg.

Twigg was hired in January 2018, after her predecessor Martina A. Chwastiak retired.

Zula’s term in office hasn’t been an easy one. A federal sexual harassment lawsuit filed in March 2021 in U.S. District Court, Scranton by four women who work in the courthouse against Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. names Zula as one of the defendants.

Other defendants are the county, First Assistant County Solicitor/Risk Manager Glenn T. Roth Jr., County Administrator Gary R. Bender, and Kutzler.

The suit, which is winding its way the federal court system, accuses Halcovage of harassing the woman since he was elected commissioner in 2012, and the others for failing to stop him and failing to stop retaliatory measures the women say were taken against them.

All five defendants have answered in court documents, denying the accusations.

U.S. Department of Justice has since joined the suit.

The women are identified in the suit only as Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 3, and Jane Doe 4. However, two, Tax Assessment Director Angela Toomey and her assistant, Denise McGinley-Gerchak, have since been identified after commissioners twice tried to fire them for allegedly using sensitive county owned software to research personal information on a about 300 people, including some county officials. Because the software also reveals those associated with those who were searched, commissioners have said the personal information of a total of 9,146 people may have been compromised.

Commissioners on March 9 hired Experian for a total of $277,894 to notify those people and offer them each a year of free credit monitoring.

Commissioners attempted to fire Toomey and Gerchak in September, but Commissioner Gary J. Hess asked for an investigation. The women were suspended without pay instead. An investigation, which has never been made public, was approved in November.

In March, based on the results of that investigation, led to a second try at firing the women. That failed when Halcovage abstained, Hess voted no, and Commissioners Chairman Barron L. Hetherington voted in favor.

The women have since won unemployment benefits, and are working from home.

An investigation by the county Human Resources Department in June 2020 determined Halcovage violated the sexual harassment, conduct and disciplinary action, and the physical and verbal abuse policies.

In January, state Sen. David G. Argall launched a move to impeach Halcovage. That process is moving through the state Legislature.