Former Plum Manager Denise Herceg Rumbaugh will let an Allegheny County jury decide whether she must hand over money that Plum officials say she owes them.
Herceg Rumbaugh will forgo filing a federal lawsuit against the borough, her attorney said Thursday. Instead, she will press forward with her claim of retaliation during a jury trial March 13 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
The trial involves a dispute between Herceg Rumbaugh and the borough over a raise she was given before she left Plum in July 2001 to become manager in Scott.
Filing a federal lawsuit "would be a duplication of effort," Tom Castello, an attorney representing Herceg Rumbaugh, said earlier this week.
In October, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dismissed a retaliation complaint filed by Herceg Rumbaugh and gave her a notice of her right to file a lawsuit.
The deadline for Herceg Rumbaugh to file a federal lawsuit was yesterday. Borough attorneys could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Plum Council President Clem Barbarino declined to comment.
Borough officials have asked Herceg Rumbaugh to pay back $2,334 -- a portion of an $11,000 raise that she received in 2001. Herceg Rumbaugh alleged that Plum officials demanded the money in retaliation for a federal sexual-discrimination lawsuit she filed against the borough. U.S. District Court Judge Donetta Ambrose dismissed the lawsuit in September.
The borough contended the raise was not approved at a council meeting and, therefore, not valid because Plum Mayor John Schmeck had vetoed it twice.
An arbitration panel in April ruled that Herceg Rumbaugh did not have to repay the money. Borough officials filed an appeal in Common Pleas Court.
Castello said that Herceg Rumbaugh, during the trial, will pursue her claim that borough officials owe her $1,506. She contends the borough owes her the money for unused benefits, such as sick and vacation time plus contribution to her pension.
"That's what they owe her for the miscalculation," Castello said.
The panel rejected Herceg Rumbaugh's claim during the arbitration in April.
In her discrimination lawsuit, Herceg Rumbaugh claimed that certain borough officials subjected her to verbal abuse, public embarrassment and slanderous accusations because she is a woman. Schmeck and Barbarino were identified in connection with the allegations in an 18-page report by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert C. Mitchell, who recommended that the case be dismissed.
Borough attorney Patricia Monahan has said Herceg Rumbaugh's complaint was baseless.
