County lawsuit tally adding up $600,000 paid to defendants since '06; deductible doubles

SUNBURY - High-profile lawsuits settled by Northumberland County since 2006 have resulted in plaintiffs receiving approximately $600,000 in awards, while costing the county more than $130,000 in attorney fees.

Additionally, there are three other suits pending in which plaintiffs are seeking $250,000 from the county, which has spent thousands more defending those lawsuits.

Concerns about frequent lawsuits involving the county surfaced after a tumultuous winter in which the county was sued by its own president judge and two fired sheriff deputies.

Insurance helps pay for most of the suits filed against the county, but that has become more costly, too. Prior to this year, the county's insurance deductible was $25,000; in January, it increased to $50,000, due in part to the rash of suits filed against the county in recent years.

In recognizing the financial toll the suits have taken on the county in recent years, Attorney Kimberley Best, who serves as the county chief clerk, has a goal to cut in half the amount of attorney fees the county pays to larger legal firms out of the area to defend lawsuits. She wants county or local attorneys to handle litigation issues.

"My optimistic goal is to cut the fees in half, or at least a quarter," she said.

The three county commissioners also are concerned about spending money to defend lawsuits.

Commissioner Vinny Clausi said, "I think it's very sad the county has to spend so much money for lawsuits. Most of it is covered by insurance that we pay for, but it's still costing us attorney fees. And our deductible has risen this year to $50,000, which is partly a reflection of the number of lawsuits filed in recent years."

Clausi said he is in favor of having county or local attorneys represent Northumberland County whenever possible to save money.

Commissioner Kurt Masser agrees.

"We have to be careful and smart on how we spend money to defend these suits," he said.

Prison payouts

Commissioner Chairman Frank Sawicki said the most of the suits filed in recent years deal with the county prison.

"We've taken a good, hard look at the prison and have made considerable improvements under former warden Rick Reish," Sawicki said. "Those improvements are continuing under current warden Roy Johnson."

One of those improvements is providing "more comprehensive health care services" to the inmates by contracting with PrimeCare Medical Inc., Harrisburg, Sawicki said.

"We are now closely approaching American Correctional Association standards with the prison by improving internal procedures for guards," he said. "Despite its age (134 years old), we are trying to make the county prison a first-class correctional facility in terms of procedures and personnel, and I expect the nuisance lawsuits to diminish."

The costliest suits filed against the county were the wrongful death complaint involving the suicide of 19-year-old Ryan Francis in the county prison on March 9, 2006, and the wrongful termination suit filed by former prison guard Christopher Guise and his wife, Penny, over Guise's firing on Nov. 3, 2004.

The Francis suit, filed in November 2006 by Francis' grandmother and administratrix of his estate, Bonnie Francis, resulted in the county paying a $360,000 settlement plus extensive legal fees.

The Guise suit was settled by the county for $150,000.

Ryan Francis committed suicide 10 days after his mother, half-brother, girlfriend and two others were killed in an apartment fire in Trevorton.

Dr. Frederick Maue, the psychiatrist who treated Ryan Francis upon his incarceration at Northumberland County Prison, also was sued over the teenager's death, but reached an undisclosed settlement in July 2009.

Guise claimed he was fired as vindication for drawing attention to improprieties at the prison. He'd been placed on indefinite suspension in April 2004 after a grand jury investigation by the state Attorney General's office. The charges were dropped in May 2004, but he remained on suspension until his termination.

3 suits; $78,000

Three other suits involved settlements totaling $78,000.

- Joanne Kaminski, of Mount Carmel, a former Northumberland County union employee, was awarded $33,000 in a settlement reached with the county in July 2009 over a lawsuit she filed on July 13, 2004, claiming she was wrongfully terminated.

Kaminski worked as a licensed practical nurse at Mountain View Manor and Rehabilitation Center before becoming a part-time worker known as a "floater" in the county's magisterial district judge offices.

Kaminski, who was terminated from her position on April 15, 2003, by the county commissioners, suffered a non-work related injury while employed by the county and sued the county after she was terminated.

The county spent $14,000 in legal fees fighting the suit.

- In late December 2007, the county approved a $10,000 settlement with the Pennsylvania Independent Waste Haulers Association (PIWHA) and Lycoming County. Northumberland County had reached an agreement in December 2000 with Lycoming County to collect a $3 county administrative fee per ton of municipal solid waste disposed of at Lycoming's landfill facility, an amount previously estimated at approximately $7,000 a month. Hundreds of thousands of dollars collected each month through 2004 was to be used to fund Northumberland County's recycling program.

PIWHA challenged the fees and filed suit against Northumberland County, as well as Columbia, Montour, Union and Snyder counties, arguing the fees weren't enforceable by law. A Lycoming County judge agreed, and Commonwealth Court and the state Supreme Court subsequently denied county appeals.

- Also in late December 2007, the commissioners reached a $35,000 settlement with former deputy warden Joan Todisco, who believed she was paid less than her male colleague based solely on gender. Todisco filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in 2002 against Northumberland County, its prison board and its salary board.

The county spent $15,000 in attorney fees in the suit.

Deputy sheriffs

Some other suits filed against the county are still pending.

Deputy Sheriffs Joseph Jones and Michael Boris, both of Mount Carmel, were fired by Sheriff Chad Reiner for violating the department's computer policy by failing to secure their logon passwords and make sure no inappropriate material was retrieved using their passwords.

They were terminated about two weeks after Clausi, at a county commissioners' meeting, accused two unnamed sheriff department employees of viewing pornography Web sites on office computers.

Jones and Boris filed a defamation lawsuit against Clausi; each seeks $50,000.

Boris and Jones also claim they were wrongfully terminated and filed a grievance through their union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, in an attempt to regain their jobs. The case is headed for arbitration.

The county won't have to pay legal fees in defending the suit filed by Boris and Jones because Best, a salaried employee, is representing the county.

On March 2, Clausi filed a $3 million lawsuit against the two fired deputy sheriffs and their attorney stemming from the porn-viewing scandal at the courthouse. Clausi, acting as an individual and not representing the board of commissioners, had the suit filed by his privately hired team of attorneys.

In the suit, Clausi claims abuse of process and "intentional infliction of emotional distress" by Boris and Jones, and attorney Gregory A. Stuck, of Northumberland, who is representing Boris and Jones. Clausi is seeking $1 million from each of the three defendants, while demanding a jury trial.

Earlier this month, Clausi said he had already spent $30,000 in his defense.

Battle with judge

On Feb. 8, the county commissioners and President Judge Robert B. Sacavage reached a settlement on a budget debate that also ended up in court.

During a 30-minute press conference, Sacavage shook hands with his former adversary, Clausi, as well as with Masser and Sawicki. The gesture came after the commissioners agreed to provide the court with $2,837,403 from the general fund in 2010 and pay approximately $20,000 in legal fees and expenses incurred by the court in filing court action against the commissioners.

In exchange, the lawsuit filed by Sacavage was discontinued. The county paid approximately $33,000 to defend itself in the litigation.

Inmate claims

On Feb. 26, 2008, 12 inmates at the county prison who alleged medical and mental health malfeasance, improper disciplinary measures and deplorable safety conditions filed a class-action lawsuit against the prison. The suit, which does not seek monetary damages, has cost the county approximately $180,000 in legal fees and is still pending. According to Best, the suit is not being covered by insurance.

Other allegations include a lack of clothing, overcrowding and a disparity between treatment of male and female prisoners.

The lawsuit was filed by the Lewisburg Prison Project on behalf of the dozen inmates: Scott Collins, Roman Brady, Jeremy Elsesser, Conrad Corely, Michael Wetzel, Hasson Lindsey, Thomas Anderson, Joseph Bowers, Sharon Reichner, Megan Holohan, Kelcie Williams and Sonya Wyland.

Defendants are former warden Reish and prison board members, which include the county commissioners, District Attorney Tony Rosini, county Controller Charles Erdman, Sacavage and Reiner.

$75,000 sought

A lawsuit filed against the county prison board in federal court by former deputy warden John Conrad and his wife, Leslie, also is ongoing. The suit, which is seeking approximately $75,000 from the county, was filed after John Conrad was suspended with pay in February 2009 and eventually fired.

Conrad's lawsuit claims a conspiracy, wrongful termination, defamation and violation of due process, equal protection rights and whistle-blower rights. His wife's claim is for loss of consortium.

The defendants have denied all claims.

The county alleges that Conrad was fired because of his actions toward a guard, Donald Keeley. The county also said Conrad knew exactly why he was terminated. As an at-will employee, court documents state Conrad wasn't entitled to a written statement of the charges.

Ongoing federal suit

The former county deputy court administrator, who maintains she was wrongfully terminated and falsely accused of leaking information, and her husband are seeking in excess of $75,000 in a pending federal suit filed in U.S. Middle District Court.

Jona and Daniel Diehl, of Paxinos, filed the lawsuit Jan. 13 against the county, Sacavage, the Administrative Offices of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC), court administrator Brandy Yasenchak, her secretary Melinda Knepp and county Reiner.

In the complaint filed by their attorneys, Kepner, Kepner and Corba P.C., of Berwick, Diehl and her husband claim her termination violated Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and their constitutional rights.

Diehl alleges in her complaint that Knepp conspired to have her fired as a result of personal animosity against her and that Sacavage knew of an agreement between Yasenchak and Knepp to carry out this plan. She also said both women inappropriately monitored her job functions and assigned breaks by stalking, harassing and intimidating her, and falsely reported her activities in the workplace.

Diehl said she became aware of the alleged conspiracy and drafted a memo to Sacavage asking for an explanation, but no response was ever provided.

Diehl, who was fired July 6, 2009, by Sacavage, claimed her termination was in reaction to what she called false accusations that she provided Act 35 expenditures from the adult probation department to Clausi who, around that time, was pressing Sacavage for details on court spending.

According to the complaint, Sacavage discussed Diehl's perceived leaking of information with Best, who was acting court administrator while Yasenchak was on maternity leave. Diehl also alleges that Yasenchak called her a "mole" and told Masser that Diehl was the individual providing the information to Clausi.

In May, Diehl took a leave under the FMLA after being allegedly continuously harassed by Yasenchak and Knepp, causing her to seek the care of medical professionals for extreme anxiety.

Furthermore, Diehl said she had received excellent performance reviews from her employer until January 2009, when Yasenchak gave her a poor evaluation out of maliciousness, adding to the emotional and mental distress.

When she returned from medical leave on July 6, she was immediately fired and escorted from the courthouse.

The county sues

In July 2008, instead of being sued, the county commissioners filed a civil lawsuit involving coal lands against two former county solicitors and their law firms. Specifics about the case remain unknown, and it has been inactive.

A writ of summons was filed in Northumberland County Court, and includes the demand for a jury trial, but the filing did not include details about why the county is suing.

Named as defendants are Francis J. Konopka, Coal Township, and Guy William Schlesinger, Shamokin, and their respective law firms: Makowski, Marateck, Konopka & Marateck, 1750 Clinton Ave., Coal Township; and Schlesinger & Kerstetter, L.L.P., 545 N. Second St., Shamokin.

The county has thus far spent approximately $20,000 in filing the suit.

Stesney case

In September 2008, a lawsuit filed by former county Chief Clerk William "Chet" Stesney against the county was dismissed in U.S. District Court.

The suit, which cited age discrimination as the reason for Stesney's termination on Aug. 19, 2003, was dismissed by Judge John E. Jones III.

Stesney filed the complaint against the county on Jan. 30, 2007. He was appointed to chief clerk by the county commissioners on Jan. 1, 1996. On Aug. 18, 2003, he was informed via a letter from then-director of human resources Edward Zack that he was being laid off due to the county's financial condition and budgetary constraints. When his employment was terminated the next day, Stesney was 64 years of age.

Subsequent to his dismissal, the chief clerk's position was occupied by William Tharp, who was in his 30s; Steve Roush, 55, and Michael I. Lindermuth, 37.

Stesney asserted that his dismissal violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

In his ruling against the suit, Judge Jones said the budgetary concerns cited by the commissioners were not a pre-text for discharging Stesney and that age was not a motivating or determining factor in his dismissal.

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