Lally faces suit over firings
Two former employees in the Fayette County controller’s office have filed suit, claiming they were fired so the new controller could install his political allies. Carly Bolish of Uniontown and John Richnafsky of McClellandtown, through attorney Samuel J. Cordes, alleged that they were fired on Jan. 7, shortly after controller Sean Lally took office.
Lally defeated two-term controller Mark Roberts in last year’s election. Both men are Democrats. Both Lally and Fayette County are named as defendants in the suit.
Bolish worked as an accounts payable clerk from Sept. 10 until Jan. 7, and Richnafsky worked as an auditor from Oct. 9 until Jan. 7, according to the filing.
The suit contends each was a competent worker, and claimed that Lally replaced each with one of his “political supporters.” Richnafsky, the suit contends, supported Mark Roberts in his bid to remain county controller and suggests that he may have been fired for doing so.
Lally, who had yet to be served with a copy of the federal suit on Monday, declined comment, noting that he did not want to comment on pending litigation. The suit was filed last week in federal court in Pittsburgh.
“(Bolish and Richnafsky), as citizens of the United States, did not surrender their rights, privileges and immunities under the U.S. Constitution as a condition of employment with (Lally and the county),” Cordes wrote.
The suit noted that both had the right to support whichever candidate they chose.
“Supporting candidates other than Lally and participating in the election campaign of Roberts had and will have no effect on plaintiffs’ abilities to perform their jobs as accounts payable clerk and auditor,” Cordes wrote.
The suit asks for back and future pay, in addition to damages for “pain, suffering, emotional distress and humiliation.”
County human resource director Jennifer Cline of Felice Associates said previously that neither employee had passed the 90-day probationary period, although the dates in the suit indicate that Bolish had.
In a recent news article, Cline was quoted as saying that Lally “exercised a contractual right in no longer requiring the services of two employees that were within their probationary period.”
The suit is similar to one filed by a former sheriff’s office sergeant who was fired when current sheriff Gary D. Brownfield took office in 2000.
Donald Whittaker sued, and won a nearly $140,000 judgment that included back pay, future pay and compensatory damages.
The jury did not award him any punitive damages. A punitive finding would have allowed jurors to award money for willful or malicious conduct.
Brownfield fired Whittaker and Mark Santore, son of former sheriff Norma Jean Santore, after he won a five-way race for sheriff in 1999. Santore also sued, although the resolution of that case was not immediately clear.