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WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County Coroner Daniel J. Hughes resigned from his post Tuesday — effective immediately — after six months overseeing the office.
Hughes submitted his resignation to county Manager C. David Pedri after a personal meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Hughes cited several factors, most specifically the “hostile and unprofessional work environment created and actively maintained by Judicial Services and Records Division Head Joan Hoggarth.”
“As you well know, I was not Joan’s preferred pick for the county coroner position. As a result, she has determined from the beginning to undermine the county manager’s hiring decision and undermine my position as Luzerne County Coroner. I have reported her inappropriate objective several times to you and to Luzerne County Human Resources, specifically Angela Gavlick, and have had no response to date,” Hughes wrote in his resignation letter.
Hughes said Hoggarth did not provide any positive evaluation in his performance review last week, adding that he will not have his “good name ruined by Joan Hoggarth and her self-serving political agenda,” his letter said. His letter also said his concerns about overtime pay for a staffer and possible “inappropriate spending” from a state fund account were not addressed.
Hoggarth declined comment Tuesday.
Pedri issued this statement: “While I am surprised at Mr. Hughes’ comments, I see no reason to get into personnel matters and personal issues that he may have had with his superior. On behalf of Luzerne County, we thank him for his service and wish him the best in future endeavors.”
Pedri said he has appointed former county sheriff and current county prison lieutenant Jack Robshaw as interim coroner, saying he “has no doubt that this office will continue to run in an efficient manner.”
The coroner position will be publicly posted, and Pedri encouraged interested applicants to submit resumes.
In a phone interview, Hughes said he would have marked his 20th anniversary working for the coroner’s office in February.
”It’s been a pleasure serving the residents of Luzerne County, but the time has come to move on. It is what it is,” Hughes said.
One of Hughes’ first assignments as a deputy coroner was responding to the May 21, 2001, plane crash in Bear Creek Township that claimed the lives of 17 passengers and two crew members. The plane was returning to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport from Atlantic City, N.J.
Hughes recalled calling then Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Lisman upon hearing the crash and volunteering to help as a young deputy coroner. He said a makeshift morgue was set up in a plane hanger at the airport where bodies were taken and reviewed after recovery in a heavily wooded area of Bear Creek.
“I have excelled as county coroner despite Joan’s best attempts to indicate otherwise,” Hughes wrote in the resignation letter.
Deputy post
The deputy coroner position also is vacant due to the recent retirement of Dennis Dobinick.
Hughes was deputy before his promotion to coroner, and Dobinick had been appointed deputy in June.
The deputy must assume all coroner duties if the coroner is absent. The deputy position was advertised at $42,000 to $48,000, and five applicants have submitted resumes, the administration said last week.
Pedri appointed Hughes coroner in March at $51,000. In addition to working as chief deputy, Hughes previously was among contracted funeral directors who assist the office as deputies.
When announcing Hughes’ appointment, Pedri said he believed Hughes has the “experience, training and attitude needed to succeed in this position,” citing Hughes’ 18 years working for the office.
Brian Leffler, who owns Kniffen O’Malley Leffler Funeral & Cremation Services, had advised against the hiring of any funeral director as the next coroner, according to a letter he sent to Pedri and other county officials before the appointment was made.
Prepared by Attorney Jason G. Benion, of Harrisburg-based Post & Schell, this communication referenced and included a previous letter Leffler sent to county officials in January expressing concerns about his allegation that Hughes used “his office for private benefit by steering business to his funeral home.”
Hughes said at the time that “anybody can make allegations about anything.”
”As far as the truth of the allegation, that’s a whole other story,” he has said.
