According to the article, one of them earned $44,475 on top of her base salary of $58,366 in 2024. Another was paid $30,946 in addition to her $50,941 salary. A third picked up $15,572 added on to her salary of $61,490.
This money will certainly be deducted from their pensions so that taxpayers are made whole. The state AG's office declines to say whether this trio is under criminal investigation.
At last week's meeting of County Council, Controller Tara Zrinski let it slip that her office is conducting an audit at DA Steve Baratta's request.
These employees have a right to file grievances and dispute whether they were abusing overtime.
One of these alleged abusers - in fact the one who pulled down the biggest amount of overtime, injected herself into the DA's race between Terry Houck and Steve Baratta with claims of racism, and Baratta used these accusations to muddy up Houck during the campaign.
In my original story, I received numerous comments from at least one member of this triumvirate, claiming "a political WITCH HUNT!! The DA should use his common sense! It appears more of a political attack on the DA office so it can cripple and get rid of his hard working dedicated public service working employees! The chain of command to claim they were not aware of signing OT is utter nonsense! How is OT payroll sign off going through so many channels? These women are victims of poor incompetent leadership oversight and being persecuted!"
Now, these Clerks were attacking the man they helped elect.
I received a different perspective from another clerk in that office, who tells me "[t]hey would berate people in front of everyone and played people against each other so that many of the young girls left. She would scream at me and others. ... She [top OT abuser] would come into the office, sit in her office and pray and sing so that everyone could hear her. The DA's race - isn't that funny how they went around and lied about Terry [Houck] also he was kind enough to give her a shot at being the manager."
38 comments:
We are into year two of the Great Man’s overhaul of the DA’s office and it certainly seems as though there is as much mismanagement, if not more, than when Terry Houck was DA. If these women truly abused and misrepresented OT, they deserve to lose their jobs, but who signed off on the requests? That person must be punished, as well, because he/she allowed the charade to continue. I don’t care if the signer is a nice guy or trusted the three because he/she was negligent in their duties. And if the one clerk’s accusations of racism were a political game used to help Baratta, then she should be severely punished — or given a job in Allentown.
maybe they thought the overtime money was reparations.
Really? Wasn’t there a big ta do over installing time clocks a few years ago? And wasn’t that weasel Morganelli strictly against them? So maybe time clocks wouldn’t be such a bad thing to keep track of employee times with or without overtime. Guess the chickens have come home to roost.
Any relation to the Allentown noose fraudster- screaming racism is always a red flag!
This is so embarrassing
I believe the only place in the county that still uses time clocks is the jail. And that's a joke because how short staffed they are.
The top Clerk abusing OT authorized the OT for others in her office. Her OT was in turn authorized by either Steve Baratta, the DA, or Bob Eyer, his First Assistant. But from what I've been told by inside sources, she had a way of having them sign off without them realizing what they were doing. I imagine that is one of the things the Controller will want to review.
Aren't you a sweetheart! You immediately refer to Morganelli as a weasel. Kinda' tells us you're just out to screw with everyone. The OT occurred over one year by three employees. That $ will be taken out of the pensions so there is no loss to the taxpayer. It is an aberration, something that rarely occurs. In the end, if someone is going to steal or act dishonestly, there is no protection against it. Time clocks do not matter.
Tike clocks were proposed several years ago, and frankly, it was an insult to the integrity of the overwhelming number of honest county employees. John Morganellie opposed them and this is what he said at the time to Brown's admin: "As we speak there are workmen outside my office putting up a time clock. I made it absolutely clear that my employees will not be subject to ANY timeclock as long as I am DA. The Home Rule Charter specifically gives ME as DA EXCLUSIVE control over my employees. This is a waste of money and I am not going to decrease morale and efficiency in my office with this."
9:18, That unfortunate truth is that racism is still alive and well among some of us, but anyone who falsely claims racism or throws the term around loosely does more harm than good, just like a person who falsely cries rape.
Only one of the abusers is a person of color.
9:45, I see no need for time clocks at the jail given the amount of OT foisted upon COs. I find them insulting.
If there are criminal charges and convictions aren't the pensions forfeit ?
i think it was pay to play it seems funny 2 of them were working under cover for Barratas campaign against terry Houck then the same 2 involved with OT .He was told of his OT in his office during budget meeting and never said a word now claims he had no idea and i honestly believe this would have continued if someone did not file that right to know PAY TO PLAY SIR should be investigated by Attorney General . I will give him a chance but he is either so incompetent and just has no clue which is scary or he knew exactly what was going on
A payroll audit should be done County wide. I’m sure they weren’t the only ones who did this. Oh - maybe HR / Payroll will say that is too much work.
Tara doesn't want her people working OT. They have personal lives. Lol.
Hey Lamonte you better get your DA and your own house in order before you run for another
New rumor circulating the halls of the courthouse is that a married attorney on the DA staff is having an affair with a clerical staff member. I’m hoping this isn’t true, but these two have been spotted in the hallways together multiple times.
The DA is an independently elected office and the Executive has no authority to interfere with it, just as he is unable to interfere with the courts or Controller.
I know Bernie just so angry at the amount of stench this whole DA thing has around it
12:58, Abusing OT is one thing. Personal relationships are another. I have no idea if this rumor is true, and it is none of my business unless this attorney supervises this employee. For as long as I've followed the courthouse, there have been affairs. Come on, let's not go there.
It just goes from bad to worse ...is there anyone investigating Barratta if not they should
Is there anyway of having independent investigation into what exactly is going on in Northampton County DA office??????
The witch hunt comment you mentioned looks like one of the offenders. And when you said "This money will certainly be deducted from their pensions so that taxpayers are made whole" who told you that??
You know what's gonna happen his administration will fail it will be nothing but lawsuits and litigation the rest of his term if he makes it
“… she had a way of having them sign off without them realizing what they were doing.” If the DA and/or first deputy are that clueless and able to be manipulated by a subordinate, then there are far bigger problems than this. I doubt the DA or his prosecutorial team would accept an “I didn’t read it” defense, yet the public will have to accept that the circling of the wagons means no information will be shared. Baratta proclaimed himself the savior of the office, yet he has been nothing more than a pontificating windbag. He has been a disaster since day one. Eyer lost my vote for sure.
Doesn't gracedale have time clocks
1:37 pm: When Houck was DA, there was a lot more transparency. Information about the office and personnel was easy to find, he made sure there was a social media presence (I didn’t like that, but it is how things work today), and DA and staff put in a number of hours of volunteer work. Baratta operates behind a curtain of secrecy and his staff rarely tries cases. No wonder the win/loss record isn’t great when attorneys aren’t working trials. Plea deals are a lazy way of doing things. Nobody seems to care that the highest ranking law enforcement officer in the county doesn’t have a clue.
3:14, Nobody told me that. That has been the modus operandi when an employee is terminated for stealing, and that's regardless whether criminal charges are filed.
Like I said lawsuits and litigation all on our dime
Please attorney general investigate one of your own and show the good people of northampton county that no one is above the law
6:21, Look, first of all, this is about overtime abuse, not your hatred of Baratta. Second, I supported Terry, but what happened to Steve could just as easily have happened to Terry. Third, you say Baratta's staff rarely tries cases. That's true, and Houck's staff rarely tried cases as well. Our judicial system is just slanted, in my opinion for the worst, to encourage pleas. I do not call Baratta often, but he's returned all my calls save one.
I was strongly opposed to Steve in the election. But the election is over. I want his office to succeed bc that way our county succeeds. As PJ, he was a great administrator. So I don't have any concern about his admin abilities. I do think he's finding out that the staffing shortages among prosecutors is a lot more widespread than he had thought and has nothing to do with Terry. He is also learning that some of his supposed allies, like the woman who complained of racism, was using him and continued doing so when she abused OT. That's her fault, not his.
By the time this year is over, there will be enough data with which to determine how he's fared. I'd suggest you recognize that much of your criticism is driven by personal animosity, not facts.
I can appreciate BO being objective because some comments are down right ridiculous.
8:03, I make no claim to objectivity, which I consider an impossibility. I have plenty of bias but also recognize the importance of being as honest and as fair as I can be. I always call things as I see them, and that is sometimes wrong, but it's my honest assessment.
The time clocks in a prison setting are more about knowing who’s inside if an incident happens. Every state prison in PA has you swipe in and out. It’s for accountability.
Oh Bernie little do you know
Well if they got fired then they took the money when they shouldn’t have. We used to call that “stealing time”. Technically It’s Theft By Unlawful Taking I guess, but sometimes if it’s paid back they don’t get charged.
Theres way more than you realize the Attorney General has been notified more to come
Kinda hard to know when your only hearing his side ...I'd be interested to see exactly what happened wouldn't you???
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