YOUNGSTOWN — The law firm representing Ricky Morrison, the fired Mahoning County maintenance worker who last year sued county commissioners and their administrator over his termination, announced the settlement amount is $175,000.

Commissioners plan to address the matter at their public meeting 10 a.m. today.

Commissioners reinstated Morrison to his job after his lawyers with the Chandra Law Firm of Cleveland wrote a letter threatening to file a lawsuit. The firm did file suit a short time later.

On Wednesday, the Chandra Law Firm disclosed the settlement amount on its website.

When the three commissioners were contacted for comment on the amount and the issues the lawsuit raised, Commissioners Carol Rimedio-Righetti and David Ditzler said the board would talk about the settlement “in open session” today.

Commissioner Anthony Traficanti also referred a reporter to today’s commissioners meeting.

The post on the law firm’s website gives a rundown of allegations, including that on Nov. 28, 2022, Morrison attended a Mahoning County Board of Elections meeting and sat next to Democrat incumbent Commissioner Rimedio-Righetti’s challenger, Republican Geno DiFabio.

“Observing this, Rimedio-Righetti exclaimed with disgust, ‘You work for us. Unreal!'” the post states.

It alleges “a few days later, the three commissioners — Rimedio-Righetti, Ditzler, and Traficanti along with Administrator Audrey Tillis — held a secret meeting in violation of Ohio’s Open Open Meetings Act. During the meeting — contrary (to Ohio law) — no vote was taken to go into executive session and no public vote was taken on Morrison’s termination.

“The secret meeting wasn’t even announced in advance as required by (Ohio law). Defendants Rimedio-Righetti and Ditzler, the complaint alleges, decided to fire Morrison while hidden from public scrutiny.”

The lawsuit, filed in December, alleged Morrison was fired for supporting DiFabio. It alleged intimidation, bribery, telecommunications fraud, interference with civil rights, dereliction of duty, failure to report crimes and violating the state’s open meetings act.

The three commissioners and Tillis reached a tentative settlement in the case June 16, but the terms of the agreement have not been released by the court.

Though commissioners declined to talk about the settlement, Ditzler pointed out the county’s insurance company is responsible for any settlement amounts — not the county.

Gina DeGenova, Mahoning County prosecutor, said in June her office was “in no way involved in this matter” and pointed out that she was dismissed from the lawsuit, and “the remaining defendants have their own (legal) counsel.”

The county was represented by its insurance carrier, CORSA, or County Risk Sharing Authority.

The suit stated Morrison was undergoing cancer treatment when he was fired Dec. 2 by the county because of his support in November’s general election for DiFabio, who ran unsuccessfully against Rimedio-Righetti.

DeGenova, who was acting county prosecutor at the time the suit was filed, said Dec. 13 that after getting an email from attorney Subodh Chandra, she investigated the matter and determined Tillis — and not the county commissioners — fired Morrison.

DeGenova said Tillis’ decision was improper because she didn’t have the authority to do so. DeGenova wrote in a Dec. 13 email to Chandra that Tillis’ “action was not politically motivated.” She said the decision to fire Morrison rested with the commissioners, and they “will not ratify the action taken by” Tillis, DeGenova wrote.

Morrison was reinstated Dec. 14 and didn’t lose any pay or have his health care benefits stopped.

But the lawsuit quotes conversations Traficanti had with Morrison and DiFabio in which Traficanti said the commissioners met in a Dec. 1 executive session and over his objections, the two others voted to fire Morrison.

On Monday, Judge Benita Pearson of U.S. District Court closed the case at the request of the parties.

When Tillis was asked last week about the settlement, she said she did not know when the commissioners would be approving the payment.