Ex-nun's suit names bishop
A former nun claims the bishop of Erie and other top officials at Gannon University forced her out of her job as university chaplain because she's a woman.
Attorneys for Lynette M. Petruska, a former Sister of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, said they were unable to resolve the matter with school officials and Bishop Donald W. Trautman before filing a federal lawsuit last week in Erie.
Among the more than 40 defendants named in the complaint are newly installed Greensburg Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt and Monsignor David Rubino, assistant to the president at Seton Hill University.
Rubino, a priest of the Erie diocese "on loan" to Seton Hill, served from 1991 until May 2000 as president of Gannon, a private, co-educational Catholic university with about 3,400 students.
Brandt, who was ordained and installed as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg March 4, resigned from Gannon's board of trustees before coming to Greensburg.
The Greensburg diocese declined to comment on the complaint.
"This is not about money. It's about institutional changes for Lynette," said Petruska's attorney, AnnDrea Benson.
Benson and attorney C. John Pleban presented a proposal to school officials last week that included a new procedure for reviewing complaints of sexual discrimination.
"Their response was: 'If it's not broken, don't fix it,'" said Pleban, who alleges Petruska fell victim to a ''good old boy network'' at Gannon.
"They ran her out of Dodge," he said. "And she's not going quietly."
Originally hired as director of the Center for Social Concern in July 1997, Petruska was promoted to university chaplain two years later.
She was the first female to hold the cabinet-level post.
Rubino appointed Petruska to the position with the advice and consent of Trautman, according to the complaint.
But Petruska alleges that Rubino and Trautman intended to return the Rev. Nicholas Rouch to the position of chaplain or otherwise head the chaplain's division upon his return from a visit to Rome.
"She had made it clear that she would not tolerate being used by the university until a suitable male came along to fill the position of chaplain," the complaint states.
Petruska also alleges that she was demoted because she tried to expose an alleged cover-up of sexual misconduct. The complaint alleges that Rubino resigned as president of Gannon in May 2000 "because of acts of sexual misconduct directed against female subordinates."
Petruska was instrumental in bringing that claim to Trautman's attention, the lawsuit states.
Rubino declined to comment on the allegations.
"Obviously, as I've said before, she has the right to enter the legal forum," he said.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie also declined to comment while "the lawsuit is taking its way through the legal system," said spokesman Gary Loncki.
Gannon spokesman David Fabian said Petruska's lawsuit contains "essentially the same allegations" she submitted to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, in a gender discrimination complaint that was dismissed.
"Just as it did in the EEOC proceedings, Gannon will respond to the allegations of her suit in due course," he said.
Fabian said Petruska resigned voluntarily on Oct. 14, 2003. She was not demoted prior to her decision to resign, he said.
The university underwent a restructuring of staff and created a new position -- vice president for Mission and Ministry. Rouch was named to the part-time position. A male colleague of Petruska's also was affected by the moves, Gannon said.
Rubino was named in 1999 to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System. Benson, the attorney representing Petruska, also was named to the committee.
The committee, divided into two subcommittees, included 75 attorneys, judges, academics and community representatives. It issued a 550-page report on how to improve legal representation in the commonwealth.
