Luzerne County Council approves $42K settlement of lawsuit alleging discrimination, harassment

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County Council voted 7-4 to approve a $42,500 settlement of a federal lawsuit alleging sex discrimination, disability discrimination, harassment and retaliation.

“This settlement is a full and complete settlement and release of any and all claims by Michelle Castner against Luzerne County,” said the resolution approved at Tuesday’s meeting.

Castner filed the federal lawsuit in 2019. The Plymouth resident alleged she was forced to resign as a county 911 employee in 2017.

A portion of the $42,000 settlement will be covered by insurance, Solicitor Harry Skene said. Litigation costs, including expenses for legal services, are covered after exceeding $100,000, Skene said.

According to Castner’s lawsuit, the county denied her “numerous requests for time off to allow her to attend medical appointments necessitated by her medical conditions related to various disabilities,” the plaintiff’s lawsuit alleged. Castner also claimed she “was subjected to extremely offensive sexual talk and conduct in the workplace on a nearly daily basis.”

The lawsuit alleged the county extended Castner’s probation period by six months “to get rid of her faster” and “in retaliation for her complaints of sexual harassment” and “for her request for reasonable accommodations of her disability.”

The seven votes to approve the settlement came from: Council Chairman John Lombardo, Patty Krushnowski, Lee Ann McDermott, Chris Perry, Greg Wolovich, Brittany Stephenson and Jimmy Sabatino.

The four votes opposing were from: Vice Chairman Brian Thornton, Harry Haas, Joanna Bryn Smith and Kevin Lescavage.

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