YOUNGSTOWN — A judge ruled the Youngstown Civil Service Commission was wrong to uphold the mayor’s firing of Taron Cunningham as the city’s Community Development Agency director.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Anthony D’Apolito wrote that Cunningham’s March 8, 2019, termination letter from Mayor Jamael Tito Brown failed to list the specific reasons why he was fired — in violation of a city Civil Service Commission’s rule.

D’Apolito ordered the commission’s decision “be vacated and this matter remanded for the purpose of allowing the appointing authority to issue a compliant order of removal and afford (Cunningham) the opportunity for a full hearing, should he choose to appeal.”

The judge declined to rule on Cunningham’s request for back pay “simply because there were procedural deficiencies and finds it prudent to first allow for a hearing at the administrative level that addresses whether there are legitimate grounds for termination.”

Cunningham was seeking reinstatement with back pay. His annual salary was $74,997.52 before he was fired.

Brown fired Cunningham March 8, 2019, in a two-paragraph letter that didn’t state the reasons for his decision. That came after city Law Director Jeff Limbian had a Jan. 16, 2019, predisciplinary hearing recommending Cunningham be fired.

On Jan. 8, 2019, T. Sharon Woodberry, then the director of the city’s Community Planning and Economic Development Department and Cunningham’s supervisor, wrote Limbian outlining 26 issues with the CDA director and seeking an opinion on his firing. Limbian provided a nearly identical letter with the issues to Cunningham five days before the hearing.

The letter Limbian gave Cunningham — based entirely on information from Woodberry — outlined numerous issues city employees had with Cunningham between July 26, 2018, and Jan. 7, 2019.

Woodberry’s letter read, in part, Cunningham’s “inability to adhere to policy and rules that govern the workplace, incompetence, poor communication skills, misrepresentation of facts in his course of his work, general insubordination, temperamental and retaliatory behavior, and failure to sufficiently provide guidance to employees directly under his supervision are problematic for this department.”

Cunningham appealed Brown’s decision to the Civil Service Commission, which upheld the firing after a May 9, 2019, hearing, and again on July 1, 2019. It issued a final order on Cunningham’s firing on July 22, 2019.

But D’Apolito wrote the commission “clearly failed to determine whether the notice of removal was in compliance with” its own rule that “requires the removal order to include the reasons for termination.”

S. David Worhatch, Cunningham’s attorney, said the commission’s “rules obligated the mayor” to give “more than just lip service to the possible grounds for termination. This case is, was and remains all about Mr. Cunningham’s due process rights.”

Worhatch added: “Mr. Cunningham never knew the specific allegations against him. The mayor listed 26 possible reasons and he never specified which of the reasons were the cause for (Cunningham’s) firing.”

Limbian said: “There was adequate notice to Mr. Cunningham for the reasons for his dismissal. If a court believes there was a procedural link that needs to be connected, we will certainly do that. We’re confident the same outcome is likely. The facts haven’t changed. Mr. Cunningham should not be working for the city and we will provide adequate notice to Mr. Cunningham as the court has directed.”

The case will go back to the commission “assuming nothing else happens in the interim,” Worhatch said.

He added: “I disagree with the judge that it should go to another commission hearing. It should be returned to the commission with an order to vacate and reinstate my client.”

Cunningham was hired Nov. 27, 2017, by John A. McNally, who was mayor in his final weeks in office at the time. Cunningham was suspended for one day on May 22, 2018, and for three days, starting Oct. 8, 2018, both for insubordination.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com