Local Government TV

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

NorCo PJ Reinstates County Solicitor Fired Under Exec John Brown

Jill Mancini
Northampton County President Judge Craig Dally, in a 16-page opinion (you can read it below), has ordered that Jill Mancini, a former assistant county solicitor appointed under former Exec John Stoffa, be reinstated. He also awarded her four years of back pay and fringe benefits. The exact amount of these damages will be determined during an evidentiary hearing in December.

So ends the latest chapter in a saga that first began on December 23, 2013. There had been a change of the guard in the County after John Brown's election as Executive. His new Solicitor, Vic Scomillio, advised Mancini by phone, and while he was driving, that she was being fired. 

Since that time, this matter has been heard by a federal district court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Revenue Appeals Board, court of common pleas and Commonwealth Court. A federal jury determined that Mancini's procedural due process rights had been violated. She was awarded $94,232 in back pay and attorney fees of $186,000

The dispute lingered after Brown was replaced as Executive by Lamont McClure. As a candidate, McClure supported Mancini's cause. As Executive, he appears to have been troubled by the huge payday Mancini would be reaping.

It's going to be larger now.

Mancini Opinion by BernieOHare on Scribd

38 comments:

  1. Brown and McClure: Dumb and Dumber. Electing unqualified mid-weights is one of the great perils of democracy. Please don't tell me how sharp either of these idiots is. We'll pay for the mistake of electing either of these morons, for years.

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  2. This is a great decision for future Executives. They can hire anyone they want, and that person will have Civil Service status. Merit hiring as the Home Room charter envisioned has been ended.

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  3. John Brown the incompetent gift that keeps on giving !

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  4. Isn’t Dally the judge that Liza Tresslar filed a sex and age discrimination complaint against ?

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  5. That's what happens when you mess with two woman from the Solicitor's Office. Way to go, Jill!

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  6. Didn’t Vic Scomilio run for judge like 4 times. Looks like we dodge a disaster there.

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  7. Was Jill Mancini sleeping with Karl Lagerfeld when he created this job for her ?

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  8. This case is never going to end. I doubt the Republican council which John Brown is the head of will let McClure settle.

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  9. Many people have been let go. Fired with career status with changing of the executive. If they could all get money that would be great. Don't know Jill but good for her for fighting.

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  10. Please explain what "firing without due process" means? Does that go for all employees everywhere, whether they work for state, county, local or even private businesses?

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  11. Reinstatement ! Perfect ! Maybe Joll could go back to the DAs Office. Baratta is hiring.

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  12. Who is sleeping with the Clerk to Council to get that kind of money, not even an attorney gets with all their education.

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  13. As I read this, this woman was hired as a full-time solicitor and served in a County Personnel system with career protections. Her Law degree, just like a Doctor with a degree in medicine, automatically qualifies them for most positions in their specialty field and would be exempt from many laws as they pertain to hiring professionals. This is probably what the County did. If so, she has all the protections of a "Civil Service Employee" (or whatever you call them in County Government) and should not have been terminated. The real question here is, Why didn't the County settle with this employee after they continuously lost court case after court case. What did McClures delays cost the County in Tax dollars. Almost ten years of fighting this case in the courts???????

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  14. This case proves that merit hiring in Northampton County is still the rule. Way to go Jill.

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  15. Voters in this area are absolutely ignorant.

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  16. Wasn’t Jill run out of the DA’s Office for incompetence ?

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  17. John Brown will never let this case end.

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  18. This must mean that Judge Dally believes Lisa Tresslar should be reinstated ? Positional conflict much ?

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  19. Congratulations on your win in court, Jill.

    I'm sorry it took so long. Justice delayed is justice denied.

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  20. 9:55 am: if that were the case, then there wouldn’t be a DA’s office.

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  21. Hope she has a good accountant. The tax bill is going to be a killer.

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  22. Typical McClure…”cares about the employee” until money comes into play.

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  23. John Brown will never let Jill see a dime of this money.

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  24. Does the $99,000.00 Mancini has already paid get deducted from her award ?

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  25. Dally should Order Tresslar’s reinstatement immediately. He’s got some explaining to do.

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  26. Didn’t Morganelli run Mancini out of the DAs Office ?

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  27. Did Dally issue this decision to distract from the mistreatment of former Custody Master Lisa Tresslar ?

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  28. Perhaps I am not understanding this correctly. The office, under Scomillio, was restructured, thus eliminating Ms. Mancini’s position. That doesn’t seem like lawsuit material because it happens a lot in the corporate world. So, did she sue because she wasn’t offered another (similar) position? So far, the taxpayer is out about $300K, and we’re on the hook for a lot more. If she was ousted due to political affiliation, that happens in government, too. Was she shown the door due to her job performance? Some dots aren’t connecting for me.

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  29. 7:22 am: Karl Lagerfeld? Didn’t know the designer worked for Northampton County.

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  30. This is County blunder after County Blunder. They have lost every time this case was heard so they appeal the loss only to find that they lose again. Loss after loss means one of two things. Either Jill is correct or the County's lawyers are a bunch of losers. It sure appears to me that the County lawyers like their boss McClure are a bunch of losers. They appeal after appeal and lose and then lose again. They should do the right thing and settle this case.

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  31. McClure like Brown will do what he wants and not be told what to do. All talk.

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  32. Lesson learned: Firing someone over the phone, especially a cell phone while driving in your car, seems to be a pre determined losing strategy.

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  33. This decision will come back to haunt Dally. Sletvold, Roscioli and Greene along with Dally stand accused of discriminating against Lisa Tresslar on the basis of her Age and Sex. It seems Dally will now be forced to admit under oath that Tresslar was discriminated against.

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  34. Tresslar resigned. Mancini did not. Among other differences.

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  35. McClueless delays all cases. He hopes that they will go away. Even is the employee wins, he appeals them. It costs the taxpayers more. How many NC employees has this happened to under McClueless and what did it cost taxpayers?

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  36. Looks like the strategy deployed by McClure was a war of attrition. It failed.
    When you promise job protection, give it.
    How much more waste?
    Someone must inquire about the 300K of taxpayer's money on legal fees, insurance premiums before and after, and hours spent by assistant solicitors paid by taxpayers on matters related to this 10 year example of disgraceful lack of leadership.
    And someone should investigate what other employees are being crushed under this lack of leadership.

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  37. Was Jill Mancini sleeping with Karl Lagerfeld when he created a job for her in the Solicitor’s Office ? Did Jill get the job properly ? If Jill didn’t get the job properly, she shouldn’t be protected, no ?

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  38. @ 3:22 is correct. Questions need to be asked. After Brown and Scomilio dismissed Jill without Due Process, did Jill win $99,000.00 in Federal Court ? Will that $99,000.00 be deducted from whatever award is finally determined years from now ? Did Jill then demand the County pay her $1,000,000.00 dollars to settle her County claim she had due to Brown and Scomilio’s conduct ? If true, what’s Jill’s explanation for that demand, now that she’s “won” less than half of that ? Seems like the County has already “won” when considering that if Jill demanded a milli, she’ll be getting a lot less than that, no ?

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