Former staffers alleged political purge in suit against Lackawanna County DA

SCRANTON — Two former administrative secretaries in the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office claimed they were fired last year in a partisan purge by Democrat Mark Powell, who ended a half century of Republican control of the prosecutor’s post.

The suit filed Wednesday in U.S. Middle District Court, Scranton by Jill Schultz and Frances Francis alleged they faced harassment and retaliation for their support of the Republican candidate, former First Assistant District Attorney Gene Talerico, who lost the 2018 election to Powell.

Schultz of Scranton and Francis of Scott Township named Powell, Human Resources Generalist Brian Finnerty, the office and county as defendants and demanded a jury trial and damages in excess of $100,000 in damages for alleged violations of their rights of free speech and free association protected by the First Amendment. The plaintiffs are represented by attorney Mark Frost of Philadelphia.

Powell on Friday in an emailed response said: “I categorically deny the allegations contained in the complaint and look forward to disproving them in court. All the personnel decisions I have made in the District Attorney’s Office have been based on qualifications, experience, job performance, honesty and integrity. The taxpayers of Lackawanna County expect and deserve a professional and competent DA’s staff.”

Schultz had been employed for 16 years. Francis, who also was the chief union steward for Local 668 of the Service Employees International Union and an official with a county Republican women’s group, had been there for 19 years. They had exemplary employment records and had never been reprimanded until Powell took office on Jan. 2, 2018, the suit said.

The women “were registered – and outspoken – Republicans” who put up lawn signs and campaigned for Talerico on social media outside of working hours, the suit said.

Of the 65 employees in the office, seven were “outspoken supporters” of Talerico and that small group was singled out with six of them terminated and the other demoted, the suit said.

The women alleged Powell and Finnerty harassed them by moving Schultz’s office without a reason in order to disrupt her work and prohibiting administrative staff from working beyond 4:30 p.m. The deadline was set “in an effort to impede the staff’s ability to complete their duties and provide Finnerty a false pretext to discipline plaintiffs,” the suit said.

Other female staff members represented by the SEIU complained to Francis about a hostile work environment created by Finnerty, the suit said. But when Francis advised Powell about it, he dismissed her concerns and did not take any action against Finnerty, the suit said.

Francis, in her union capacity, organized the filing of a class action grievance against Finnerty. Along with Schultz, Francis were interviewed for the grievance investigation and alleged Finnerty knew of their allegations that he had a “pension for isolating female employees behind closed doors.” The grievance was denied on Dec. 7, 2018, the suit said.

The pair alleged their terminations were the result a “false narrative” created by Powell and Finnerty that Francis took a vacation without giving advance notice and that the women “lied about the (vacation) scheduling book” maintained by Schultz and “doctored it.”

In addition to the damages sought for pain and suffering and economic loss, the suit asked the court to enjoin the defendants from continuing their retaliatory practices.