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YOUNGSTOWN -- A former clerk to Trumbull County commissioners has filed suit against Commissioner Frank Fuda charging him with harassment on the job.
The lawyer for Paulette A. Godfrey of McDonald on Wednesday filed the civil complaint, which demands a jury trial in the U.S. Northern Ohio District Court.
The complaint written by attorney David Engler, claims Godfrey, who was hired as a commissioners clerk in 2005, made statements during an unspecified public meeting that Fuda as commissioner had been hostile and abusive to her in the workplace.
Subsequent to this meeting, the lawsuit alleged that Fuda began to harass, torment, bully and act abusively toward Godfrey. This intentional conduct toward her "created a work environment so hostile toward Godfrey that her physician told her, as a matter of her health, she needed to leave her job.
Reached by telephone Wednesday afternoon, Fuda said, "I've never been hostile in the workplace with Paulette Godfrey. I actually helped her in the 15 years I've worked there. I have no idea what she's talking about."
Fuda said he would give Godfrey rides to and from work over the years and also would give her rides to various events. He blamed fellow Commissioner Niki Frenchko for the lawsuit being filed, stating Godfrey and Frenchko "teamed up" to file the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states Fuda's conduct was instrumental in Godfrey leaving the job in July 2021 and that Fuda knowingly took steps to "destroy the possibility of an arrangement designed to bring Godfrey… back to work."
In speaking out regarding issues of public interest at the meeting, the lawsuit states Godfrey was speaking as a citizen and not as a Trumbull County employee.
"Godfrey's actions in expressing her opinions on issues such as those identified in this complaint constituted protected conduct under the First Amendment," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims Godfrey's "constructive discharge" from employment was "an act of retaliation by Fuda against Godfrey, violating Godfrey's First Amendment rights.
The plaintiff asks the court to find judgment against Fuda for economic damages of $250,000, noneconomic damages to be determined at trial but not less than $500,000 and punitive damages not less than $2 million.
The case was assigned to U.S. Judge John R. Adams, who has not scheduled any hearings.