Ex-director will get $80Ok in settlement | Information, Sports activities, Jobs

By Jason Wilson Last updated Dec 6, 2020

Warren – A settlement for approximately $ 80,000 has been reached with the former director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission who is filing a lawsuit with the State Personnel Board of Review against the decision to fire her.

Trish Nuskievicz was fired in October 2019 when she was on extended medical leave due to complaints about how she was treated by county colleagues.

Payroll funds from the Trumbull County General Fund were used to pay Nuskievicz, said Attorney Jeffery Stankunas, who represented the Trumbull County’s Board of Directors on appeal against his decision.

Under the agreement, Nuskievicz was reinstated and then voluntarily resigned.

The payout consists of the salary she would have received between October 29, 2019 and June 29, and the vacation pay. The settlement provides that Nuskievicz will not assert any further legal claims against the planning commission.

Nuskievicz was taken on vacation by the Family Leave Act in July 2018 after “developing serious health problems caused by working in a very hostile work environment” due to “intense psychological abuse, bullying, retaliation and discrimination” and general harassment, “she explained in a 2018 letter to the planning commission.

The planning commission closed an investigation worth 42,000 US dollars after their vacation, which, however, “offered little clarity and named no one as responsible for their claims,” the chamber said in a joint statement after its termination.

The board replaced her with Julie Green, who was the county grant manager.

Nuskievicz’s allegations of bad behavior that forced her were directed not against staff on the planning committee, but against people in other district offices. Some of these people had complaints about their performance on the job, although the investigation failed to verify either side’s claims. The investigation report described poor communication, “microaggressions” and suspicion between the parties involved.

After the letter to the board was released, county engineer Randy Smith sued Nuskievicz and her wife, but later dropped the lawsuit.

Nuskievicz said she was glad the ordeal was behind her.

“I’ve tried to solve problems from the start, but both parties have to want to solve one problem, not just one. The situation just wasn’t right. I just want to go ahead and make a positive difference in the community, ”said Nuskievicz. “After everything that happened, this was the best possible result, although none of it should have happened at all.”

Nuskievicz said she had an impeccable record with the county before the controversy surfaced and that she feels “getting back what they were trying to take away”.

The agreement also restores the retirement period.

Stankunas said the State Personnel Board of Review would finalize the agreement and then dismiss the case.

“I think one of the values of this agreement is that it allows both parties to go ahead and set the terms rather than the State Personnel Board of Review or a court of law,” said Stankunas.