Westmoreland County approves $105K settlement in harassment case
Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday agreed to pay $105,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against former Register of Wills Michael Ginsburg.
The settlement paid to longtime office staffer Katie Pecarchik ends the federal lawsuit she filed a year ago that alleged Ginsburg had created a hostile work environment through his inappropriate sexual and racial comments and other actions.
Pecarchik has worked as a deputy clerk in the office since 2003.
Ginsburg, a Republican from Penn Township, served one, four-year term as head of the office. He did not run for re-election last year. Commissioners declined to discuss the settlement, but said the decision to resolve it out of court was made on the advice of lawyers after a determination was made that it would have been costlier to fight the case in a trial.
“We're going to look at the best deal for the county, but we can't talk about specific cases,” Commissioner Charles Anderson said.
The county in recent years has settled three lawsuits in lieu of fighting them in court. They include:
• $250,000 to former chief public defender Dante Bertani, who contended he was fired for political reasons.
• $105,000 to end a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of former Westmoreland Manor resident Anna J. Woods.
• $85,000 to resolve an age discrimination lawsuit brought against the sheriff's office by former Deputy Michael J. Zampogna.
Commissioners on Thursday also approved a $75,000 payout to settle a lawsuit filed in 2011 by Rex Zerbe of New Stanton. Zerbe contended the conditions of the century-old, county-owned Bells Mills covered bridge between Sewickley and South Huntingdon townships caused him to crash his motorcycle in 2009 and resulted in him being injured.
“I don't think there is anything we can do to prevent people from suing us,” Commissioner Ted Kopas said.
Pecarchik in 2013 filed formal complaints against Ginsburg with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In her three-count federal lawsuit against the county, Ginsburg and the register of wills office filed last summer, she accused Ginsburg of repeatedly making sexually explicit comments, improperly touching her, including kissing her hands, and said he threatened her job if she came forward with allegations against him. She also accused Ginsburg of making racially explicit comments.
Ginsburg did not return a call seeking comment.
U.S. District Court Judge Nora Barry Fischer late last year dismissed Ginsburg as a defendant in the lawsuit and last month removed the county from the case, leaving the register of wills office as the lone defendant. Sherry Magretti Hamilton, who was elected register of wills in November, did not work in the office at the time of the alleged incidents.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
