Mt. Lebanon Landlord With History Of Housing Violations Sued By State Attorney General’s Office

A Mt. Lebanon landlord who has been repeatedly fined for failing to have water service to his properties in Carrick and elsewhere – and who was accused of running a garden hose from someone else’s property to get water – is being sued by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office.

The complaint, filed today in Common Pleas Court, names as defendants Davin Gartley, as well as his companies, Davin Investments Inc. and R.A.E.D. Investments Inc.

According to the complaint, the defendants operate at least 11 properties, including 2531-2539 Brownsville Road in Carrick, which has been the subject of the water problems.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants are violating Pennsylvania’s Consumer Protection Law by failing to maintain habitable properties, failing to provide water service and failing to return tenant security deposits.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/05/12/Mt-Lebanon-landlord-with-history-of-housing-violations-sued-by-state-Attorney-General-s-office/stories/201505120157

Settlement Reached Between Monroeville, Former Manager

A former Monroeville manager will receive $45,000 in back pay in addition to retirement benefits as part of a settlement with the municipality.

In exchange, Lynette Mc­Kinney, 48, of Monroeville will drop lawsuits she filed over her termination a year ago, according to the terms of the settlement the Tribune-Review obtained Thursday under a Right-to-Know request. Old National Insurance Co. will pay McKinney $45,000 in back wages and $23,000 to her attorney, Joseph Chivers. Monroeville will pay $7,000 in insurance premiums directly to her.

Council approved the terms of the settlement this month.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/7619207-74/settlement-court-mckinney#ixzz3PelzOnq0
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Penn Hills Wants To Step Up Code Enforcement, Cite Violators

Penn Hills officials say they plan to be more proactive in code enforcement while they wait for litigation to free up funds for additional code enforcement officers.

“The current number of code enforcement officers is not acceptable for the needs within the municipality,” Deputy Mayor Sara Kuhn said at the Dec. 22 meeting.

At a public budget hearing attended by about 60 residents, nearly every speaker asked council to include funds in the 2015 budget to increase the number of code enforcement officers.

Penn Hills resident Sandy Sikora told council that more code enforcement officers are needed to help fight blight and code violation in the municipality.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/7435434-74/story#ixzz3Mk2LvFog
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2 Coatesville Administrators Placed On Leave Amid District Lawsuit Action

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Caln Township, PA – Two Coatesville Area School District employees were placed on administrative leave last week at the same time the school board filed a lawsuit against two former administrators.

Assistant superintendent Angelo Romaniello and facilities worker Matthew Como, the son of former superintendent Richard Como, were placed on administrative leave effective last week.

Romaniello’s attorney, Robert Donatoni of West Chester, declined comment on the employment status of his client Friday. Attorney Paul Rubino, who’s representing Matt Como, also declined comment.

CASD superintendent Cathy Taschner did not release the names of the employees in the message sent to parents Thursday night. School district officials responded Friday to a right-to-know request submitted by the Daily Local News checking on the employment status of Matt Como and Romaniello.

Read more: http://www.dailylocal.com/general-news/20141122/2-coatesville-administrators-placed-on-leave-amid-district-lawsuit-action

Former Police Chief Sues Monroeville As Whistleblower

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Monroeville’s former police chief has sued the municipality in federal court, alleging mistreatment after he exposed lapses in how officials protected sensitive law enforcement and medical information about residents.

In the suit filed late Monday night, Steven Pascarella, a 26-year veteran, is claiming civil rights violations, retaliation despite his status as a whistleblower, and failure of the municipality to accommodate an unspecified disability.

Mr. Pascarella, 46, was quietly fired in April. By then he had returned to the rank of lieutenant at his request because of medical issues.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/east/2014/07/15/Former-police-chief-sues-Monroeville-as-whistleblower/stories/201407150135#ixzz37Y2z8uqz

Shickshinny Mayor Sues Borough, Officials Over Access

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WILKES-BARRE, PA — Bitter differences between Shickshinny Mayor Beverly Moore have spilled over from the council room to the courtroom.

Following January’s dismissal of borough police officer Brian Morris, Moore on Wednesday filed suit against the borough and several officials, alleging a pattern of behavior including secret meetings, being denied access to municipal offices and being forced to file right-to-know requests to see borough documents.

Moore, who was first elected to the post in 1997, also named as defendants council members Michael Steeber, James Wido, and Roselee Whitbread and secretary Wendy Kramer, according to documents filed in Luzerne County Court.

Her suit describes some of the battles that have roiled the waters at council meetings for more than a year.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/1413124/Shickshinny-mayor-sues-borough-officials-over-access

Contractor Gets $1.6M, Apology From Montgomery County DA’s Office

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The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office has agreed to pay $1.65 million to settle claims that District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman brought unfounded theft charges against a Radnor building contractor at the behest of a church that counts prominent county officials among its members.

As part of the agreement, confirmed by the contractor’s lawyers Tuesday, Ferman apologized to Walter Logan, a man whose alleged crimes she once described as “particularly despicable” and “really very low.”

Those words, delivered to a TV news crew, came hours after her office charged Logan in 2009 with bilking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Salem Baptist Church of Jenkintown after a contract dispute.

In a statement to Logan as part of their agreement, and released Tuesday by his attorneys, Ferman struck a different tone.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20140426_Contractor_gets__1_6M__apology_from_Montco_DA_s_office.html#QRERrQv5H04R55Bk.99

Jury Finds Phoenixville Hospital Nurses Negligent, Awards Family $32.8M

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WEST CHESTER, PA — A Chester County Court jury awarded $32.8 million to a young North Coventry girl who was born with brain damage at Phoenixville Hospital, finding negligence on the part of two nurses who were attending her pregnant mother.

The verdict came late Friday after the panel of eight men and four women deliberated more than nine hours in the case of Lily Ciechoski, who suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. The jury found that the nurses had improperly failed to alert the girl’s mother’s doctor about a drastic change in the baby’s heart rate for 13 minutes during labor.

That failure and other delays in the delivery caused the baby to suffer the brain damage she now struggles with, said her attorney Jason Archinaco of the Pittsburgh law firm of Archinaco Bracken.

“I compare it to an airplane going into a nose dive for 13 minutes and no one telling the pilot,” Archinaco said in an interview Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140122/jury-finds-phoenixville-hospital-nurses-negligent-awards-family-328m

Centralia Residents Free To Stay After Settling Suit Against State

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All they ever wanted was to be left alone, free to live out their lives in the central Pennsylvania coal town whose population had fled an underground mine fire.

After 20 years, the residents of Centralia have finally gotten their wish.

A lengthy battle over eminent domain culminated this week when eight residents settled their lawsuit against state officials who had been trying to evict them from their condemned homes – the only homes left standing after most of this Columbia County town was razed in the 1980s due to a still-burning coal-mine fire.

The settlement, notice of which was filed in U.S. District Court, allows the residents to stay in their homes for as long as they live. It also includes a cash payout of $349,500.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=517872

OJR School Board Settles Lawsuit By Ex-Superintendent Myra Forrest

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SOUTH COVENTRY TOWNSHIP, PA—The Owen J. Roberts School Board has closed a lengthy legal chapter by approving a settlement agreement with former Superintendent Myra Forrest.

The agreement puts an end to a legal battle that spanned four years, following Forrest’s 2009 termination.  Forrest had filed a suit with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeking damages, although an amount was never made public.  Defendants in the case were the Owen J. Roberts School District, the school board and five former board members.

The matter had been scheduled to go to trial several times, but was postponed each time.  A settlement agreement was reached in June and the case was formally dismissed by the court last month.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement and release, Forrest was given $315,000, to be paid by the district’s insurance company.  That money is intended to cover losses and damages “related to the lawsuit, the superintendent’s contract and/or the employment relationship, or (Forrest’s) separation from her employment and affiliation with defendants,” the language of the agreement states.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20130917/ojr-school-board-settles-lawsuit-by-ex-superintendent-myra-forrest

Wilkes-Barre Employee Claims Retaliation By City

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SCRANTON, PA — A Wilkes-Barre paramedic said the city “fabricated” a disciplinary hearing against him in retaliation for his suing to expose what he considers insider trading in the sale of city properties and ethics violations.

Tyler Hammond filed a second lawsuit Friday in U.S. Middle District Court, saying the actions of the city and Mayor Tom Leighton are meant to deter him from exercising his constitutional right to access the courts and engage in free speech.

Hammond and his wife Antonia sued the city in 2009, alleging the mayor, who also is a real estate agent, had access to and free use of confidential city information about properties in Wilkes-Barre, including the former Old River Road Bakery.  he city approved — and later terminated — a deal to sell the property to Leo A. Glodzik III, who had the exclusive towing contract with Wilkes-Barre until theft charges were filed against him in May.  The property was sold and Harrold’s Pharmacy is in the process of relocating there.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/814747/W-B-employee-claims-retaliation-by-city

Man Exonerated In Fayette County Double Killing After 27 Years Sues Prosecutors, Investigator

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Freed after a quarter-century in prison following what federal judges called “a badly tainted and highly suspect conviction” for the Bear Rocks killings, David Joseph Munchinski has sued the men who prosecuted him and is asking that the state pay eight figures to make up for his lost time.

“Fair is fair,” said Mr. Munchinski’s longtime attorney, Noah Geary, on Wednesday after filing the lawsuit Tuesday night. “The man did 27 years wrongfully, and it’s time to do the right thing.”

The lawsuit names as defendants three former prosecutors, two of whom are now senior judges on the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas, plus the estate of a late state trooper. But its target is the commonwealth, as it claims the four men were acting as state agents and adds that their actions have been defended by the Office of the Attorney General during a decade of litigation.

“I think it’s eight figures,” Mr. Geary said of Mr. Munchinski’s claim for economic, psychological and punitive damages.  He said he hopes the state will settle.  Otherwise, “it would be up to a federal jury.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-south/man-exonerated-in-fayette-county-double-killing-after-27-years-sues-prosecutors-investigator-701937/#ixzz2e2NUR7JV

Montco Mansion Conflict May Finally Be Settled

Location of Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A decadelong legal battle over the historic 44-acre Maybrook estate in Lower Merion Township could, at long litigation last, be nearing an end.

This week, the Narberth Borough Council voted, 6-0, to accept a settlement with Merloc Partners, the property’s owner, that would end the lawsuit.

If a Montgomery County Court judge signs off on it and the township gives the development plan its final blessing, Merloc can proceed to build a complex of 250 apartments on the property near the Wynnewood train station.

“It’s a great thing to clean the slate and have no litigation,” Narberth Solicitor Marc Jonas said. “This could have been another four or five years of litigation.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20130816_Montco_mansion_conflict_may_finally_be_settled.html#2zWeReZbZuKHFlwJ.99

Birdsboro Water Authority Loses Rate Case Brought By Frank McLaughlin

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BIRDSBORO — Convicted water thief Frank McLaughlin won a victory in court last week when a judge agreed with his claim that the water bills he was paying to the Birdsboro Water Authority for two apartment buildings he owns could not be justified.

On July 1, District Judge David E. Glass ruled in favor of McLaughlin in two claims he filed in March, writing in both decisions that “it appears that the authority has arbitrarily assigned rates to apartment complexes that are neither reasonable nor fair.”

Noting that he never received a report explaining how the authority calculates those rates, he wrote “trying to understand the published Birdsboro Water and Sewer Authority rate structure is like trying to find a snapper turtle in a muddy pond.”

Glass further noted in his decision that “the water and sewer authority’s appeal process is flawed” advising both McLaughlin and the authority that “it would serve both sides across the aisle to remember more is accomplished with honey than vinegar.”

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130707/NEWS01/130709519/birdsboro-water-authority-loses-rate-case-brought-by-water-thief#full_story

Feds Investigating McDonald’s Franchise Over Payroll Debit Cards

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Federal investigators are looking into whether a McDonald’s franchise in Luzerne County is breaking any laws by forcing employees to accept paychecks in the form of fee-carrying debit cards.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the franchise owners say the lawsuit’s contention that employees incur fees on all transactions is wrong and there are several ways workers could access their money for free.

Attorney Michael Cefalo of West Pittson recently filed the class action lawsuit in Luzerne County Court on behalf of Natalie Gunshannon, a Dallas Township woman who quit her job at the McDonald’s in Shavertown after the company issued her a debit card as pay and refused to pay her by check or direct deposit.

Days after the suit was filed and appeared nationally in the media, Cefalo said an investigator with the U.S. Department of Labor contacted his law office.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-mcdonalds-lawsuit-feds-20130623,0,517504.story#ixzz2X4dg5GQZ 
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Lawyers Slam Demolition Work At Center City Philadelphia Collapse Site

PHILADELPHIA – Attorneys for four people suing over the collapse of a downtown building that killed six people last week lambasted the demolition work after surveying the site Sunday.

Lawyers and consultants walked gingerly on piles of debris, indicating to photographers and videographers what they wanted documented. Meanwhile, other consultants on a hoist far above scanned the site where a four-story building under demolition gave way and toppled onto an attached Salvation Army thrift store Wednesday, killing two employees and four customers and injuring 13 others.

Afterward, attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, who said his firm represents three plaintiffs in lawsuits against the property owner and contractor, said his initial examination indicated that the building that collapsed had brick-bearing walls and wooden girders without steel support and should have been demolished by hand rather than using heavy equipment. In addition, he said, the backhoe appeared to not be high enough to pull the wall down on the side away from the thrift store.

“Of course, a demolition from the top down by hand would have been much more time-consuming and expensive but was really the only way to get this done safely,” he said.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130609_ap_lawyersslamdemolitionworkatpacollapsesite.html#ibzXi0JbVdKrHgE2.99

Amish Experience Halts ‘Amish Mafia Tour’ After Legal Threat

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Hold on chust a minute: “Amish Mafia” fans won’t get to see Lebanon Levi’s “office” or his crew of enforcers’ stomping grounds after all.

Producers of the hit “reality” show have threatened legal action against Bird-in-Hand-based The Amish Experience, which had plans for an extensive tour of the show’s local sites, beginning this month.

Many scenes for the Discovery Channel series — which just wrapped a second season of filming — were shot in Lancaster County.  The tour, its organizer said, would have included a behind-the-scenes glimpse of filming locations while debunking the show’s portrayal of a group of violent Amish protectors.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/847682_Amish-Experience-halts–Amish-Mafia-Tour–after-legal-threat.html#ixzz2Sv2jfUcK

Norristown Municipal Administrator Responds To ACLU Lawsuit

Location of Norristown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORRISTOWN — Norristown is standing by its rental license ordinance as it is written and declared in a statement that in no way does it “discriminate against any persons, nor does it punish victims of domestic violence.”

The Norristown ordinance penalizes landlords and encourages them to evict their tenants when the police are called to a property three times in four months for “disorderly behavior,” including responding to incidents of domestic violence, according to the federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday.

“The ordinance provision currently in effect contains all of the constitutional due process provisions required to protect the residents of Norristown,” said Norristown Municipal Adminstrator

 in the statement released Thursday, “explicitly stating that no property shall be condemned for any reason under Norristown’s property maintenance code based on occurrences of disorderly behavior, and stating that no tenant shall be evicted or forced to vacate a rental dwelling for violation of the ordinance provision.”

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130426/NEWS01/130429637/norristown-municipal-administrator-responds-to-aclu-lawsuit#full_story

Retailers, Consumers Take Swipe At Credit Card Surcharge

English: Old Visa logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Charles Griesemer says there’s no way he would pay a fee to use his credit card at the gas pumps or in checkout lines, calling such a surcharge unfair.

“That would be ripping off the working man,” the Oley Township man said recently while gassing up his pickup truck. “I’d rather go to the bank and get cash.”

For those like Griesemer, who would balk at credit card fees, there is good and bad news.

The bad news is that credit card surcharges of up to 4 percent are now allowed on retail purchases in 40 states, thanks to a settlement retailers reached in July with MasterCard and Visa.

Read more:   http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=453496

Bank Sues Scranton, Parking Authority And Receiver Over Loan Default

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Landmark Community Bank on Friday sued Scranton, its parking authority and the authority’s court-appointed receiver over a $2.6 million loan default.

Landmark loaned the Scranton Parking Authority $2.9 million in September 2011, but the SPA has not paid on the loan since the authority was stripped last year of most of its functions, funding and power.

The lawsuit was not unexpected because Landmark’s attorney, Robert Gownley, last year threatened to sue if Scranton City Council terminated a 1995 cooperation agreement between the city and SPA that was used as the basis for collateral and security of the 2011 loan.  The Landmark loan was secured by the 10 percent of parking meter revenue that SPA receives under the 1995 cooperation agreement.

The lawsuit claims that city administration solicitor Paul Kelly, who at the time the loan was made in 2011 was solicitor for both the city and SPA, had told Landmark that the city could not unilaterally cancel the cooperation agreement between the city and authority.

Read more:  http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/bank-sues-scranton-parking-authority-and-receiver-over-loan-default-1.1442049