A federal court rejected the county's challenge of damages and attorney fees awarded to a former assistant solicitor.
A federal appeals court has rejected Northampton County's challenge of damages and attorney fees awarded to a former assistant solicitor, who claimed the elimination of her job was politically motivated.
Jill Mancini, then an assistant solicitor for Northampton County, leads a naturalization ceremony in November 2011 in Northampton County Court. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Friday upheld the January 2015 ruling in Jill Mancini's favor from a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania jury.
Both courts found Northampton County wrongfully dismissed Mancini from the solicitor's office in violation of the 14th Amendment right to due process. The rulings cleared county Executive John Brown and then-Solicitor Victor Scomillio of any individual wrongdoing.
"We will therefore affirm the orders of the District Court denying Northampton's motion for summary judgment and denying its post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial," the Third Circuit ruling states.
County on the hook for $186K in attorney fees
Mancini had cross-filed before the Third Circuit to pursue the First Amendment claim. She claimed the 2014 loss of her full-time assistant solicitor's job was politically motivated in that she openly supported Democrat John Callahan for county executive in 2013, a race won by Brown.
She dropped the First Amendment appeal during oral arguments, agreeing it would be redundant to argue the point before a second court, records say.
Her position was eliminated as part of a reorganization of the solicitor's office after Brown was elected. Scomillio testified in court to having "concerns about the competency of the solicitor's office in general, and about Mancini in particular," court records say.
"Northampton is incorrect in its view that the jury found that the reorganization of the solicitor's office was legitimate," the Third Circuit judges wrote. "The jury found that Mancini's political affiliation was not a substantial or motivating factor in the elimination of her position.
"However, this does not rule out a multitude of other improper bases for her termination, including the possibility that Northampton orchestrated a sham reorganization to target Mancini and circumvent the process she was due as a member of the career service."
As a career service employee, Mancini should have been afforded a hearing over the loss of her job under the county's Home Rule charter adopted in 1978.
"The local rules are simple, clear and specific and somehow or other we have almost three years between the time of my unlawful firing and the time of this decision of the Third Circuit, at enormous expense to taxpayers, and that will only continue to rise," Mancini said.
Brown said Saturday he could not comment on the ruling because the case remains pending and he had not had a chance to review the decision with legal counsel.
Scomillio, who resigned as solicitor for an unsuccessful bid to become a county judge, said he was disappointed by the ruling.
"We were hoping for a different outcome," he said. "I am pleased that the court upheld the jury verdict that neither myself nor John Brown did anything in appropriate."
The District Court had awarded Mancini damages of $94,232 and attorney fees totaling $186,019, though the latter amount was later reduced by $1,754, according to court records.
Mancini said she expects to see another adjustment in her attorney fees award to account for her expenses in the Third Circuit appeal.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.