County may appeal former deputies' unemployment comp

By Mark Gilger (Staff Writer mark_g@newsitem.com)
Published: March 12, 2010

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SUNBURY - Two former Northumberland County deputy sheriffs fired in January for violating the department's computer policy have been awarded unemployment compensation, but the county can still appeal the ruling.

Northumberland County Human Resources Director Joseph Picarelli confirmed Thursday that Michael Boris and Joseph Jones were granted compensation, retroactive to Jan. 16. The News-Item attempted to obtain the amount of compensation granted to Boris and Jones, but was unsuccessful.

According to Northumberland County Chief Clerk and Attorney Kymberley Best, the county plans to appeal the unemployment compensation reward even though it missed a previous 10-day deadline to file an appeal to the award that was granted last month.

Best said a late appeal can still be filed despite the county missing its earlier deadline.

County Commissioner Vinny Clausi, who wasn't informed about the ruling until Thursday when contacted for comment by The News-Item, said he was upset when he found out the county missed its original deadline to file an appeal.

Clausi said he is in favor of appealing the reward because the unemployment compensation costs money to county taxpayers.

He lambasted the three county attorneys (Kymberley Best, Vincent Rovito Jr. and Timothy Bowers) for not doing their jobs by failing to file an appeal within the required time limit.

"They missed the boat on filing an appeal, and that is unacceptable," Clausi said.

Commissioner Frank Sawicki, who also wasn't aware of the unemployment compensation reward until Thursday, said he is against filing an appeal.

Commissioner Kurt Masser, who also did not know the appeal period had expired, said he was uncertain about filing an appeal.

Jones and Boris, both of Mount Carmel, were fired Jan. 13 by Sheriff Chad Reiner for violating the department's computer policy by failing to secure their log-on 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 in late December, accused two unnamed sheriff department employees of viewing pornography Web sites on office computers.

Both men filed a defamation lawsuit against Clausi and the county over the public allegation made by Clausi.

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.

Jones, a former Sunbury police chief and officer, had been a deputy sheriff since June 30, 2008. Boris had been a deputy sheriff since Jan. 13, 2003.

Picarelli previously said the county responded to the union's grievance and the matter is moving toward arbitration.

Last month, Picarelli said it could take a few months to select an arbitrator before the two sides begin talking about the former deputies' chances of being reinstated.

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