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WARREN -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Trumbull County employee Lisa DeNunzio Blair against Commissioner Niki Frenchko that alleged derogatory comments.
The action came June 28 by Judge John R. Adams, U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, in Akron, according to court documents.
In the lawsuit, Blair, who is of Italian-American descent, stated Frenchko had made comments to the effect that county employees are "henchmen," "minions" and "hacks."
The lawsuit also stated that Frenchko repeatedly referred to county government as a swamp and referred to her staff as "flying monkeys" and other derogatory comments.
Frenchko also was alleged to have used derogatory and derisive terms when referring to Italian-American county workers, calling them "greasy," "sausage makers" and referring to some office workers as being akin to the Corleones of "The Godfather" movie fame, according to the court filing.
The lawsuit claimed three counts -- discrimination based on national origin / ancestry, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
FEDERAL LAW
In his dismissal of the case, Adams wrote that Blair's amended complaint does not make an individual claim against Frenchko under federal Title VII law. Under Title VII, employers may not discriminate on the basis of race or national origin.
"This court's ruling remains that plaintiff may not assert a claim against Frenchko personally, but may assert a claim against her in her official capacity," Adams wrote.
But Adams added that a claim against the commissioners is legally insufficient -- Frenchko does not have supervisory authority over the plaintiff because Frenchko is one of three commissioners who vote on Blair's employment status.
While the board generically qualifies as an employer, Frenchko's alleged actions were not the actions of the board as a body, which may only act with a majority vote.
THREE DISMISSED
This is the final of three lawsuits filed by Trumbull employees against Frenchko that alleged she used discriminatory language. They were all dismissed.
A 2022 lawsuit filed by Dawn Gedeon also alleged that Frenchko used Italian-American slurs and other negative comments about ethnicity in the workplace. It was dismissed last month after an agreement was reached by the two sides. The details of the agreement were not released.
A lawsuit filed against Frenchko and other commissioners by former employee Christine Glenn that alleged age and ancestry discrimination was dismissed in January. Glenn, in that lawsuit, stated she and others in the office were targeted by Frenchko and that she would "badger the old ones 'til they quit." She also alleged that Frenchko made defamatory statements about her Italian heritage.
The court said to move the case forward would be futile because Glenn suffered no loss of income due to age discrimination as she remained employed by the commissioners' office and received pay.
Frenchko on Wednesday said she would not have made the comments alleged in the three lawsuits because she has people of nearly all ethnicities and races in her family and would not disrespect any of them.
She emphasized the allegations in the three lawsuits were the same and should not have been allowed to have been filed in separate cases. Now that the cases have been dismissed, Frenchko said she is free to point out the lack of evidence, which caused them to be dismissed.
ANOTHER CASE
A lawsuit filed by Frenchko against Sheriff Paul Monroe is scheduled to have a Zoom case management hearing at 11 a.m. today before Judge J. Philip Calabrese in Cleveland, also U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio.
It also names as defendants the board of county commissioners, the county sheriff's office and deputy sergeants Robert Ross and Harold Wix, who arrested Frenchko during a meeting.
The lawsuit alleges Frenchko's arrest on fourth-degree misdemeanor disrupting a public meeting was a "ruthless false arrest intended to punish a political adversary for criticizing the county sheriff in violation of the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution."
Frenchko claimed the arrest was a "set-up."
The suit alleges that through their conduct that day, the defendants "battered Commissioner Frenchko, they humiliated her, they restrained her, they caused emotional suffering."
rsmith@tribtoday.com