Mar 11, 2015 2 min read

A Charleroi councilman is suing a member of a local nonprofit organization, claiming she slandered him at a borough meeting by asking him if he is a convicted felon.

Larry Celaschi, who was elected to council two years ago, filed the lawsuit Monday in Washington County Court against Donna Vesely and the group that was raising money to restore Charleroi’s historic Coyle Theater.

Celaschi also named unknown defendants in the lawsuit he filed against Vesley and Mid Mon Valley Cultural Trust seeking more than $50,000 for damage to his reputation.

Vesely, of Fayette City, is accused of asking the question during a Jan. 31 meeting when the borough’s public safety committee named the Coyle building at 335 McKean Ave. and 10 others as having building code problems.

“That statement was, in fact, false and served no legitimate purpose during the public safety meeting,” the councilman stated in the lawsuit.

Celaschi alleges Vesely, who is a trust board member, conspired with others to humiliate him to influence his vote on the closed theater, which dates to the late 1800s.

He claimed as an insurance salesman in Charleroi, the question Vesely raised “greatly hurt and injured his good name, fame and reputation.”

His attorney, Clark A. Mitchell in Washington, could not be reached Wednesday.

The trust declined to comment on the lawsuit, other than to say it had yet to read it and would meet to discuss it, board member Nikki Sheppick said.