Judge recommends suit be sent back to county court
A federal magistrate judge recommended that the civil case filed against various officials by a Monroeville developer and his wife who own properties in Brownsville be sent back to Fayette County Court. U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy Bissoon indicated that there were no federal claims in the lawsuit that was refiled earlier this year by Earnest and Marilyn Liggett.
Because there were only claims that dealt with state law, she indicated it was appropriate to send the suit back to Fayette County, where it was initially filed in May.
The couple sued Tracy Sheehan Zivkovich, director of Project B.R.I.G.H.T. Tomorrow; Norma J. Ryan, former borough mayor; Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp.; the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority, its director, Andrew P. French and former director Raymond C. Polaski; and code enforcement officer Donald A. Baugh.
In the suit, the Liggetts claimed that the various officials and organizations targeted them by filing unfair enforcement claims against their numerous properties for allegedly violating maintenance ordinances.
The Liggetts first filed suit in the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas in March, and it was transferred into the federal system the next month. By May, however, it was dismissed because their attorney failed to respond to requests from the court.
They refiled the suit, again in Common Pleas Court, later that month, and it was again transferred into the federal court system in June.
In his recommendation, which can be appealed, Bissoon indicated that she believes the claims in the second suit are duplicative of the first one, but said without federal claims, she lacks jurisdiction to dismiss it.