The city of Providence has agreed to pay its former human resources director $45,000 to settle a years-long legal dispute in which she claimed she was wrongfully terminated during former mayor Jorge Elorza’s administration.

Under the terms of the deal signed March 16, Sybil Bailey will receive $15,075 for emotional distress and $15,075 for lost wages, while her attorney will be paid $14,850, in exchange for releasing the city and its officials from any legal claims related to the case. The agreement also states the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by the city.

Bailey, who now works in a similar role at the Community College of Rhode Island, worked for three different mayors during her 16-year tenure in City Hall, but she was quietly let go in 2019 early in Elorza’s second term.

The Elorza administration agreed to pay Bailey $138,000 and provide a year of health benefits as part of her exit package, but the City Council refused to sign off on the deal. One councilman at the time called it “hush money.”

The agreement prohibited both sides from discussing Bailey’s departure, but Bailey later disclosed in legal filings that the Elorza administration accused her of “using her position inappropriately to refer her friends and/or relatives to city directors for employment.” She was also accused of providing answers to pre-employment testing questions to a relative. Bailey’s attorney called those claims false and malicious.

Bailey, who is Black, filed suit in 2020, accusing Elorza’s administration of age and sex discrimination.

A spokesman for the Smiley administration provided a copy of the settlement, but declined to comment further. Bailey also declined to comment.