Civil suit could shed light on Bonusgate
It appears that state Attorney General Tom Corbett’s investigation into staff bonuses paid by House and Senate leaders may not be the only avenue into the inner – and possibly illegal – workings of Harrisburg. One of the seven House Democratic staffers fired last fall by Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, has filed a civil lawsuit contending he was wrongfully dismissed. Stephen A.H. Keefer, who earned $96,018 per year as information technology director, and who got a $17,685 bonus in 2006, contends he and the others got pink slips to shift attention from Corbett’s Bonusgate probe.
Keefer also seeks $27,430 in unused sick, vacation and personal leave pay, proving once again that those who feed and get fat at the public trough have a tough time being weaned away from the taxpayer-funded slop.
As a refresher, Corbett started his probe last year, after the media revealed that House and Senate leaders doled out $3.6 million in staff bonuses in 2005 and 2006.
House Democrats shelled out $1.9 million of that total in 2006 all by themselves.Corbett is trying to find out if those bonuses were tied to campaign work, which is illegal. Thus far no one has been charged.
DeWeese sacked Keffer and the others, including his own chief of staff Michael Manzo, after reviewing e-mail messages and other documents that were turned over to Corbett. DeWeese has maintained he did nothing wrong and has expressed confidence that if Corbett’s investigation confirms any illegalities, they won’t involve him.
Irregardless of what Corbett does, Keefer’s civil suit has the potential to shed insight into the inner workings of the House Democratic caucus.
People will no doubt be called to testify in his case, including some of the same names already mentioned in the saga.
Hard questions will be asked and documents subpoenaed as evidence, as the attorney the Keefer tries to prove his case and attorneys for the Democratic caucus try to defend his firing,
If you need a hint as to where this is headed, here’s a line from Keefer’s lawsuit: “The termination … was a direct result of a conscious and knowing effort to divert attention and suspicion from individual members (of the Democratic caucus).”
The lawsuit doesn’t identify who those members were, but those specifics are likely to surface at trial.
And if Keefer has filed a civil lawsuit contesting his firing, can the others be far behind? If they feel equally justified in being made scapegoats, we could be looking at multiple lawsuits.
As those cases are argued in court, the potential for more information coming to public light grows exponentially.
Some interesting times lie ahead.