The 2009 termination of a Luzerne County employee over the alteration of a $70 receipt will end up costing the county more than $500,000, officials say.
A council majority had grudgingly approved a $378,428 payment to former county veteran affairs director Richard Wren last month to cover a $200,000 jury award and Wren’s legal fees.
The amount of the county’s own legal costs was not available at that time. But county Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo disclosed the $145,504 tally during this week’s council meeting at the request of citizen Ed Chesnovitch, who has criticized the county’s handling of the Wren matter.
The additional expense brings the county’s grand total in the case to $523,932.
Normally, the county’s out-of-pocket expenses would be capped at the insurance deductible amount, which was $150,000 when Wren’s litigation was filed in 2011, Crocamo said Wednesday.
However, the insurance company at that time, AIG, had informed the county it would not pay anything to continue pursuing the case or for a jury award if county officials rejected an offer from Wren’s legal counsel, Borland and Borland LLP, to settle the matter instead of proceeding to trial, said Crocamo.
Crocamo said the original settlement offer rejected by the council in March 2014 was $185,000. The council also declined an $85,000 settlement offer in August 2014, she said.
Wren’s trial was scheduled for February 2016. But the proceeding was delayed because former county controller Walter Griffith sent Wren’s attorney, Kimberly D. Borland, an email days before the trial with new information Borland wanted to present at trial.
The trial was held in May because the county’s attorneys — John G. Dean and Mark W. Bufalino, of Elliott Greenleaf & Dean in Wilkes-Barre — previously represented Griffith in another matter, creating a conflict of interest. A Scranton firm — Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin — was selected by the county’s insurance provider.
‘It backfired’
Wren convinced the jury he was terminated by prior county commissioners Stephen A. Urban and Maryanne Petrilla because he was a “political affiliate” of prior county commissioner Greg Skrepenak.
Petrilla and Urban said their decision to terminate was initiated and recommended by the county manager and solicitor at that time because Wren admitted to altering a $70 receipt he submitted for reimbursement.
According to court documents, Wren said he changed the receipt to show the date and expense because there was no doubt the $70 requested by the Disabled Veterans of America was accurate reimbursement for meals following the organization’s placement of flags at area cemeteries in 2009.
Crocamo, who did not get involved in the matter until she became chief solicitor after the trial, plans to propose the county initiate legal action against the insurer to recoup some of the county’s costs. But that will eat up most of her approximately $800,000 budget allocation for special legal services.
Her argument: the insurer acted in bad faith and had no right to deny coverage because county officials rejected a settlement.
Several council members bemoaned the $378,428 at their meeting last month before the additional county legal expenses were tallied.
“I apologize to the people. I don’t know how you explain that to the people, how $70 went to $375,000. I’m sorry,” said Councilman Robert Schnee, noting he took office in January 2016 and “wasn’t here when this happened.”
Councilman Harry Haas said he was approving the payment “with disgust.”
Rick Williams, another councilman, said he and his colleagues “anguished over” whether to proceed to trial and were unaware of information that would later be provided by Griffith that “changed the landscape.” Williams said he was led to believe the county had a solid case and was trying to take a stand against “frivolous” suits.
“It backfired,” Williams said.
County Manager C. David Pedri believes testimony from Urban, who is now a county councilman, was “trustworthy and correct,” but the additional information from Griffith “altered the course.”
Griffith said Wednesday he takes issue with attempts to pin blame on him for the outcome because he felt he had a duty to present newly discovered information, and the judge ultimately determined the county must switch attorneys due to a conflict.
Griffith said he was deposed in the case because he publicly criticized Wren’s termination, arguing a suspension or letter of reprimand would have been more appropriate. The new information provided in February 2016 involved a conversation Griffith had with Urban shortly after Griffith’s 2009 election as controller in which Urban allegedly told Griffith there were people who “had to be fired” in the controller’s office due to their allegiance to Skrepenak.
Urban has denied making this statement or targeting Skrepenak’s allies.
Crocamo told council she reviewed the court transcript and saw “no issues” that would make it likely the county would prevail on appeal.
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