Sep 26, 2016 3 min read

Rostraver Township has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle claims by a former finance director that the township violated state and federal laws barring employers from discriminating against employees with disabilities.

Nora R. Sheffield of West Newton, Westmoreland County, alleged in federal court the township violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide reasonable accommodations for medical conditions she suffered and retaliating against her for those requests. She also accused Rostraver of discrimination under the state Human Relations Act.

The settlement stipulates the township continues to deny Sheffield’s allegations and admits no wrongful or illegal conduct toward Sheffield by entering the agreement.

Gary Beck, chairman of the township board of commissioners, and solicitor Albert Gaudio – along with an insurance representative and legal counsel – represented Rostraver at a settlement conference July 14, according to court records. Chief Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly of the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh signed an order closing the case that day.

Under the settlement – which was released Friday afternoon to the Observer-Reporter in response to a request under the state Right-To-Know Law – Sheffield will receive $28,890 in a gross payment, minus applicable deductions, to settle her claim of lost wages.

The township agreed to pay the former official $87,000 for nonwage losses, plus $84,110 to cover attorney fees and costs.

Jeffrey Keffer, the township office manager and current finance director, said the township’s out-of-pocket costs related to the settlement didn’t exceed what it budgeted this year for special legal services.

Rostraver allocated $20,000 in that line item this year, according to budget documents.

“Some of that was covered by insurance, so it didn’t go over what was budgeted,” Keffer said.

The total budget is $5.5 million.

Attorney Colleen Ramage Johnston, who represented Sheffield, wrote her client is “substantially limited in the major life activities of walking; she at times suffers from extreme fatigue, joint pain, joint swelling, muscle pain, compromises to her immune system, and an extreme sensitivity to cold temperatures.”

Sheffield was hired as the township finance director in December 2012 and held the job until November 2014, when her position was eliminated; however, her “last day of actual work was on June 11, 2014, because (the township) continued to refuse to provide her with the reasonable accommodations that she had requested, including moving her office location, installing a properly functioning heater in her office, and allowing her to work from home when physically unable to report to work,” Johnston wrote.

Sheffield alleged the township failed to make these accommodations even though she notified her employer of the issues in an October 2013 letter.

She also claimed the township failed to give her paid sick leave for medical appointments until she took action with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and subsequently repealed the resolution allowing her to take paid sick leave for that reason. She also was the only non-union employee who didn’t receive a raise in 2014.

Township attorney Thomas H. May wrote in an answer to Sheffield’s claims the township provided reasonable accommodations for its former employee and disputed that the requests listed in the lawsuit fit that category. He also denied the township’s actions were retaliatory.