WATERFORD – Former town transfer station manager Rockie Graham said Tuesday that she will not accept a $5,000 check to settle a civil rights complaint with the town.

“I’m fighting the settlement,” said Graham, who was reassigned as transfer station manager by selectmen in January to an at-home, 20-hour-per-week job researching cost-reduction recycling ideas. “I’m not signing onto anything right now.”

Selectmen approved a $5,000 expenditure at Monday night’s meeting that will apparently be used toward an unspecified settlement between Graham and the town. Graham filed a complaint with the state’s Civil Rights Commission earlier this year citing acts of discrimination because of her gender and Jewish faith.

The complaint was filed against the Board of Selectmen but was aimed specifically at former Selectman William “Whizzer” Wheeler, she said Tuesday. In January, Graham accused Wheeler of making sexually explicit remarks toward her and accused the selectmen of ousting her from her managerial job because of her gender and faith.

Selectmen Chairman John Bell confirmed Tuesday that the $5,000 was part of a settlement agreement but said he could not comment on whether that amount was the only financial compensation to be paid to Graham under the agreement. Bell said he has been authorized by the board to represent them in the signing agreement, but he could comment no further on the case.

“It’s still an open case,” said Human Rights Commission Executive Director Patricia Ryan Tuesday. She said the commission will release no information about the complaint or whether the complaint reached an investigation stage until it is closed.

Although Graham said she was restricted from going into detail about her case, she did say her complaint asked for a larger sum than $5,000.

“Yes. Much larger. I don’t know where they came up with that figure,” she said.

Graham said she is still employed by the town at $11 an hour, 20 hours a week conducting research from her home. That job has been previously assigned to a committee, but selectmen said they felt the job wasn’t done. Graham said recycling at the transfer station had grown dramatically during her tenure, but when she was reassigned to the desk job, recycling efforts slumped. “There’s a lot less now,” she said of the townspeople’s efforts to save money through recycling.

Her research provides a number of options, but most are costly, she said. The bottom line, said Graham, is that the town is too small to go it alone.