May 19, 2016 3 min read

A three-member panel of federal appellate judges is considering a bid from a former Washington County juvenile probation officer to reverse a decision that tossed his whistleblower lawsuit against the county, its former president judge and other ex-officials out of federal court last year.

David Scrip, 55, of Monongahela, took the civil suit to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals following a June order by the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on the lawsuit, in which he alleged he was fired for reporting his supervisor for inappropriately referring children to the youth treatment and detention facility where the supervisor’s girlfriend worked.

Judges are now weighing the appeal, which was submitted Wednesday.

Washington lawyer Noah Geary, who represents Scrip, argued in filings the district court erred when it granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case.

Lawyers for the defendants are asking the circuit judges to affirm the lower court’s ruling, saying there were sufficient grounds for the decision.

Scrip alleged in the lawsuit then-president judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca and former deputy court administrator Thomas Jess fired Scrip after he anonymously reported his direct supervisor, Daniel Clements, for allegedly coercing recommendations to have children placed at Abraxas Children and Youth Services.

Scrip alleged Clements, then the director of the county Juvenile Probation Office, did so to help his girlfriend, whose job was to solicit juvenile probation departments to send children to Abraxas.

The district court dismissed portions of Scrip’s lawsuit – including a retaliation claim under federal law – last year. It remanded parts of the lawsuit involving the state whistleblower law and at-will employment doctrine back to Washington County Court, where Scrip originally filed the lawsuit.

Scrip’s named the county, O’Dell Seneca, Jess and Clements as defendants in the lawsuit.

O’Dell Seneca retired in January 2015 after the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts removed her administrative authority.

Jess’ position was eliminated last year.

Clements resigned late in 2014 and later pleaded guilty to charges of theft by deception and tampering with evidence stemming from allegations he stole money meant for mixed martial arts training.

An investigation by AOPC into the juvenile placements was conducted in 2012 prior to the filing of Scrip’s lawsuit. 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 there was no “substantial increase” in placements.

Secondary findings in the report included poor office morale, a lack of transparency in management decisions and poor organizational communication, among other issues.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.”