YOUNGSTOWN — Attorney Martin Desmond, the former assistant county prosecutor who filed a petition Oct. 9 asking for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate Desmond’s allegations against top county officials, has now filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Rudzik Excavating Inc. of Struthers.

The suit names many of the same officials, several of whom are on the ballot Tuesday, as defendants.

The new lawsuit alleges violations by Mahoning County Commissioners David Ditzler, Anthony Traficanti and Carol Rimedio Righetti, County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova and Donald Duda, an assistant county prosecutor.

The new lawsuit states that Rudzik Excavating “engaged in constitutionally protected free speech” by attending county commissioners board meetings starting in the spring and “vocalizing its displeasure with defendant Mahoning County’s requirement of costly project labor agreements (PLAs) on certain construction jobs.

“PLAs are collective bargaining agreements between building trade unions and contractors. They govern terms and conditions of employment for all workers — union and nonunion — on a construction project,” the suit states.

The suit alleges violations by the defendants “for criminal acts including intimidation, tampering with records, tampering with evidence, mail fraud, attempted theft, falsification, interference with civil and statutory rights and dereliction of duty” in relation to the PLA issue. The suit is assigned to Judge Benita Y. Pearson in U.S. District Court.

The Ohio Supreme Court appointed a visiting judge to handle Desmond’s Oct. 9 petition asking for a special prosecutor to be appointed to determine whether laws were broken by the county commissioners and DeGenova in regard to their handling of the firing and rehiring of county maintenance worker Ricky Morrison.

Defendants in that matter called Desmond’s petition politically motivated. Ditzler, Traficanti and DeGenova are on the ballot Tuesday for their respective elected positions.

PLA LAWSUIT

The federal lawsuit states that James Tressa, a senior estimator / project manager for Rudzik Excavating, spoke at several commissioners meetings about PLAs and spoke to news media and radio talk shows and that David Ditzler, county commissioner, “likewise made statements at the commissioners meetings, spoke on one radio talk shows and made other statements to the media about the county’s views of PLAs.” Commissioners Rimedio Righetti and Anthony Traficanti likewise commented on PLAs, the suit states. The commissioners’ meetings are shown on YouTube, it noted.

Rudzik submitted bids on two county projects in the spring of 2024 that required the bidder to agree to sign the PLAs, but Rudzik “declined to sign the PLAs on both projects,” the suit states. “Mahoning County commissioners issued two resolutions finding that Rudzik Excavating was the apparent low bidder, but because of its failure to execute the PLAs, the bids were non responsive and consequently rejected,” it states.

The projects were a Lake Milton water line replacement and Poland Township sanitary sewer replacement.

Rudzik also submitted “required bid bonds” with its bids. A bid bond is a “guarantee to the project owner that the bidder will complete the work if selected,” according to the www.investopedia.com website. The suit alleges that “By Ohio law, once the bid was unsuccessful, Mahoning County was required to return Rudzik Excavating’s bid bonds. After being informed by a non-defendant Mahoning County official that Mahoning County was going to seek forfeiture of the bid bonds, Tressa attended and protested at the commissioners’ meeting,” the suit states.

Duda issued two demand letters on the letterhead of Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova to Rudzik’s insurance agents, seeking forfeiture of Rudzik’s bid bonds “as payment for the difference between Rudzik’s bid and the next lowest bidder,” the suit states. “By law, Mahoning County is not entitled to forfeiture of the bid bonds to satisfy this amount. Nor is Mahoning County otherwise entitled to this payment,” the suit alleges.

The suit alleges that the comments made by the defendants, including those at commissioners meetings, “are not shielded from liability” because the remarks were made “when no legislation was pending.” The comments were made “in retaliation for Rudzik exercising its First Amendment rights,” the suit states.

The suit seeks “damages and injunctive relief” against the commissioners and injunctive relief against DeGenova and Duda, the suit states. Injunctive relief “is a remedy which restrains a party from doing certain acts or requires a party to act in a certain way,” according to the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institution.

RESPONSE

When Ditzler was asked about the new federal lawsuit, he said he had not seen or read anything on it. But he said, “Considering the timing and source of the filings, it clearly suggests they are politically motivated.”

Traficanti declined to comment, and Rimedio-Righetti did not respond to a request for comment.

DeGenova responded: “The matter has been sent to our insurance counsel, who will vigorously defend me and my assistant. The last time I was sued by these lawyers, it was dismissed in a matter of months. I am confident the same will occur in this case.”