May 18, 2015 3 min read

A portion of a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former Washington County employee was thrown out in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh earlier this month.

David Scrip, 54, of Monongahela, filed the lawsuit in August claiming he was “unlawfully fired” after he reported the county’s then-chief probation officer was making inappropriate recommendations to place children at a treatment center where the man’s girlfriend worked.

The lawsuit originally was filed in Washington County Court and was moved at the request of former Washington County President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca. Also named as defendants in the suit are former deputy court administrator Thomas Jess and former director of the county’s Juvenile Probation Office, Daniel Clements.

Scrip’s attorney, Noah Geary, said one of the three main claims, a retaliation claim under federal law, was dismissed. The remaining claims – involving the state’s whistleblower law and at-will employment doctrine – were remanded to Washington County.

“I disagree with the ruling,” Geary said. “There is very recent case law that was not taken into consideration in this ruling.”

Geary said he plans to file an appeal.

All three defendants are no longer working at the courthouse. O’Dell Seneca retired in January following the removal of her administrative authority by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. O’Dell Seneca had held the president judge’s position, which pays $175,306, for the last 10 years.

Jess’ position, which oversaw family court and probation services, was terminated Feb. 6. He was hired in 2001. Clements was arrested Oct. 10 and charged with theft by deception and tampering with public records. The charges stem from an allegation he pocketed funds that were supposed to be used for mixed-martial arts training – a form of self-defense training the department has since dropped.

Prior to his Oct. 10 arrest, Clements retired and has since applied for a pension. He had worked for the county since April 1994. Clements is expected to appear before a judge May 29 for a plea hearing.

In the fall, the defendants made a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed. The May 6 ruling was the result of the motion.

An investigation by the AOPC into the juvenile placements was conducted prior to the filing of Scrip’s lawsuit in 2012, and the findings were compiled in a report. The AOPC determined no one from the county’s juvenile probation office or the court gained personally or financially by placing youth at the treatment facility, that the members of the juvenile probation office understood the acceptance of gifts is inappropriate and in violation of court policy, and that there was no “substantial increase” in placements.

However, secondary findings in the report included poor office morale, a lack of transparency in management decisions and poor organizational communication, among other things. The report showed the majority of the staff interviewed described a “stressful work environment where they fear for their jobs or other subtle means of punishment.”

Scrip is seeking a jury trial and punitive damages.