YOUNGSTOWN — After Sarah Brown-Clark, the former Youngstown clerk of courts, lost a lawsuit contending the city owes her $28,298 in back pay for six years and was then warned that her appeal could be dismissed, the matter is heading to mediation.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge John M. Durkin on March 11 granted the city’s motion for summary judgment in Brown-Clark’s case.

Brown-Clark filed an appeal April 9 with the 7th District Court of Appeals, choosing to act as her own lawyer.

Magistrate Beth Anne Aurilio filed a June 18 order informing Brown-Clark that the time to file her brief had expired. Rather than dismiss the case, Aurilio ordered her to file a legal brief no later than Monday.

“Failure to file a timely appellant’s brief in accordance with this order may result in dismissal of the appeal,” Aurilio wrote.

Instead of filing a brief, Brown-Clark hired James Vitullo as her attorney. He notified the appeals court of his hiring Monday.

That same day, he asked for a stay to the Monday deadline writing: “The parties have agreed to court mediation and the general terms of a settlement. The mediation will assist the parties in formally resolving the matter. ”

But only 83 minutes later, Vitullo wrote that after a conversation with the city law department, “the prior motion was not accurate as to any agreement reached. The undersigned is new to this case (one day) and is requesting a 30-day extension to file the brief.”

Aurilio agreed Tuesday to “stay this appeal for 60 days for the purpose of mediation.” In a separate order Tuesday, Aurilio wrote she agreed to the delay in filing as the two sides “pursue settlement through mediation efforts.” She added: “At the conclusion of mediation, the court will issue a briefing schedule if needed.”

Andy Resnick, the city’s spokesman, said the city is following the magistrate’s order to go to mediation on the Brown-Clark case.

The magistrate “ruled to allow for mediation” and “we have to follow what the magistrate orders,” Resnick said.

The appeals court’s rules gives the court “discretion to encourage parties to use mediation in any original action or civil appeal filed in this court. A case may be submitted to mediation as provided by this rule at the discretion of this court. The court may issue an order regarding mediation on its own motion, upon the motion of counsel, upon the request of a party or upon referral by the mediator.”

Brown-Clark claims she is entitled to $28,298 in unpaid salary increases for the last six years of her term.

In his March 11 decision, Durkin wrote: “Summary judgment is a procedural device to terminate litigation and to avoid a formal trial where there is nothing to try. Summary judgment is to be granted when it appears from all the submitted evidentiary materials that reasonable minds can reach only a conclusion adverse to the party opposing the motion.”

Brown-Clark filed the case against the city and Kyle Miasek, its finance director, on Dec. 28, 2023, eight days after city council voted 4-3 against giving her a $7,181 raise for 2023.

After the vote, Brown-Clark said: “This is not over. I’m due that money. There are other avenues. This would have been the fair thing to do. This is an injustice.”

Brown-Clark chose in 2023 not to seek reelection after 24 years as Youngstown clerk of courts.

LEGAL DISPUTE

The legal dispute centers on interpretation of Ohio Revised Code Section 1901.31 regarding clerks of courts and specifically a provision exempting certain cities and counties with populations under 100,000 residents, including Youngstown, from having an appointed clerk of courts and requiring that person be elected.

In Brown-Clark’s lawsuit in common pleas court, Kevin Daley, her attorney in that case, wrote that Youngstown “is legislatively determined to be a municipality with a population greater than 100,000 for the purpose of calculating the clerk of court’s salary.”

Under that requirement, the clerk of court would get 85% of the municipal court judges’ salary.

But in a March 7, 2024, motion to dismiss that was converted by the court to a motion for summary judgment, Adam Buente, a city deputy law director, wrote the statute states if a city’s population is under 100,000 and its court’s revenue is less than its expenditures “the clerk of court of a municipal court shall receive the annual compensation that the legislative authority prescribes.”

There are exemptions included in the law, but not for Youngstown, Durkin ruled.

He wrote: “The General Assembly had the chance to carve out the same exemption for the Youngstown Municipal Court,” but “expressly chose not to do so. Thus, Youngstown’s clerk of court is not exempted.”

Durkin also agreed with the city that the exemption for Youngstown to have an elected clerk of court “has nothing to do with the setting of Brown-Clark’s compensation.”

The city pays 60% of the Youngstown clerk of courts’ salary with Mahoning County paying the rest.

The rejected legislation by council would have increased the city’s portion of Brown-Clark’s annual salary from $67,389 to $74,570 in 2024. Overall, her annual salary would have gone from $117,103 to $124,284 that year.

In the lawsuit, Brown-Clark stated the city and Miasek improperly froze her salary at the 2018 rate of $67,389. With salary increases under state law, Brown-Clark stated she is owed $28,298 over the six years.

Pay increases are included in the city’s master salary ordinance that council is supposed to approve.

When David Bozanich was city finance director, Brown-Clark would send him letters about her payroll increases and it would be handled by his department. Bozanich served as the city’s finance director from Nov. 15, 1993, to Dec. 31, 2017.

When Miasek took over as finance director that stopped and he forwarded Brown-Clark’s paperwork to the law department, which didn’t take any action.

Brown-Clark was paid 85% of the municipal court judges’ salary for the first 18 of her 24 years as clerk of courts.