WARREN — Trumbull County Commissioners voted 2-1 to terminate a Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services employee accused of falsifying documents to earn medical days off from work.

Commissioners Mauro Cantalamessa and Denny Malloy supported a recommendation from TCDJFS supervisor John Gargano to terminate Shawn Griffiths because he allegedly provided false doctor excuses on multiple occasions to take time off.

The action was deemed to be a violation of the TCDJFS personnel policy and the collective bargaining agreement. The termination was effective today.

Prior to the commissioners going into executive session during Thursday’s meeting to discuss the possible firing, Commissioner Niki Frenchko objected to the action, stating there was no evidence to proceed with any disciplinary action.

“There is not anything documented or written,” Frenchko said. “There is an alleged phone call and a possible HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) violation. Everything is based on a phone call.”

Frenchko said the firing was based on hearsay from management without any verification. Frenchko initially voted against going into executive session.

However, after Cantalamessa and Malloy went back into their offices just before 11 a.m. with TCDJFS Director John Gargano, a Job and Family Services supervisor, as well as Trumbull County Human Resources Director Alexandra DeVengencie-Bush, she joined them.

Approximately 10 minutes later, Frenchko returned to the dais in the commissioners’ meeting room. The other commissioners and TCDJFS staff did not return to the meeting room until about 11:23 a.m.

“There are 45 TCDJFS employees working from home,” Frenchko said. “There are allegations about the validity of the doctor’s note for one of them. They are saying it is not real.”

Malloy described Frenchko’s characterization of the issue as false.

“You’re incorrect. You walked out and we saw the documented paperwork from the doctor’s office,” Malloy said. “It was not a one-time offense. It was multiple (times) over a two-year period, with a doctor’s statement to us from the doctor’s office saying they did not sign that excuse.”

Malloy said Frenchko walked out of the executive session before all of the evidence was presented.

According to documents provided by TCDJFS, outlining the county’s September 2024 pre-disciplinary report on the allegations, seven of the eight doctor excuses provided by Griffiths for missing work were not prepared by the doctor’s office.

The eighth was provided by the doctor’s office, but was altered by someone after it was signed by the office and provided to the county.

Alexander Hillier, Griffiths’ union president, wrote in a Sept. 27 letter: “The union denies all allegations against Mr. Griffiths, as there is no documentation of the phone conversation held before the emails were sent to HR (Human Resources). We are questioning the merit of the conversations as they were unknown.”

Malloy noted he does not like terminating employees and wishes Griffiths the best in his future endeavors.

“He falsified documents,” Malloy said.

Frenchko asked Malloy to wait before firing Griffiths.

“What would you like,” Malloy questioned.

Frenchko questioned why an agenda item she placed on the commissioners’ agenda about disciplining commissioner office staff members was removed from the agenda. On Wednesday, during the commissioners’ weekly workshop, Malloy and Cantalamessa agreed to have the agenda item removed.

Frenchko, on Wednesday, sought to get the other commissioners to agree to vote on the disciplinary action, but did not receive the necessary second vote needed for it to be placed on the agenda to allow a vote to take place.

Malloy announced the commissioners would not meet again until 8:30 a.m. Oct. 29, during an extended commissioner workshop at which they will discuss American Rescue Plan requests that were placed on the county’s “maybe” list to be considered for funding.

The commissioners previously divided the requests for ARP funds into two lists. One, a “yes” list, included requests the three commissioners agreed they would likely approve for funding if they met all of the federal requirements needed to be awarded the funds. Commissioners are expected to complete those requests over the next several weeks.

Eight projects remain on the “yes” list that have not been either approved or rejected. These projects have an approximate value of $845,000.

Once that list is complete, commissioners will consider approximately 23 applications on the county’s “maybe” list. Those projects are valued at $11,064,223.

County Auditor Martha Yoder on Wednesday noted the county was provided $38,557,294 in ARP funds from the federal government, and it has either spent or reserved approximately $37,685,848. The county has approximately $786,445 available to provide to organizations on the “maybe” list.

Frenchko objects to the ARP meeting being made part of the weekly commissioner workshop, suggesting it should be an announced special meeting that takes place during the afternoon or early evening to provide applicants a greater opportunity to attend.

Workshops have been used in Trumbull County to discuss actions the commissioners intend to take during the next day’s regular commissioners’ meeting and / or progress on ongoing projects.

Frenchko stated the commissioners are being sued, in part, because the commissioners do not conduct business in the proper way.

The county is being sued by a group called Open Government Advocates and Frenchko. The lawsuit was filed in 2023.

Also at the meeting, the commissioners unanimously approved providing Kinsman $20,974 in ARP funds for a culvert replacement that runs beneath Morford East Road.