WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners have been in involved in multiple lawsuits since 2021 that have cost the county, so far, more than $2,557,396.91 in insurance premiums and deductibles, as well as direct payments to the claimants in some cases.

The county is part of a self insured group called the County Risk Sharing Authority, also known as CORSA. It is provided by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio. CORSA provides insurance for 72 of Ohio’s 88 counties, as well as some other noncounty agencies.

Since January 2021, the county has paid an increasing annual premium cost. In 2021,the county paid $552,269 in premiums; in 2022, it paid $593,125; and, so far in 2023, it has paid $721,681.

In addition to the annual premiums, it paid lawsuit related costs in 2021 of $133,084.62; in 2022, $170,125.71 and, so far in 2023, $276,393.50.

In 2023, the county, so far, has paid CORSA $179,769.09 in connection with nine lawsuits filed by current and former county employees, as well as one filed by Commissioner Niki Frenchko against Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe, two deputies, fellow commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa and former commissioner Frank Fuda in connection with her July 7, 2022, arrest during a commissioner’s meeting. Frenchko also filed suit against her fellow commissioners over an open meetings requirement for which an outside law firm, Bricker Graydon LLP has been hired to represent Commissioners Mauro Cantalamessa and Denny Malloy.

Frenchko is being represented in the open meetings lawsuit by attorneys David Betras and Matthew Miller-Novak.

In May, Human Resources Director Alexandra DeVengencie-Bush warned each of the commissioners that CORSA President John Brownlee personally warned her the county was being watched closely by the agency and could lose its coverage if a large number of lawsuits continued to be filed.

CORSA’s renewal costs increased from $593,125 in the 2022-23 fiscal year to $721,000 in the 2023-24 fiscal year, representing an 18.75 percent increase.

Five lawsuits were filed against the commissioners by current and former employees — Lisa DeNunzio Blair, Dawn Gedeon, Shara Taylor, Christine Glenn and Paula Vivoda-Klotz — because of actions alleged to have been done by Frenchko. One lawsuit was filed by former commissioners’ clerk Paulette Godfrey over alleged actions taken by Fuda.

A former public defender, David T. Rouzzo, and his wife, Sarah, filed a civil suit against Frenchko, but later withdrew it.

The lawsuits filed by Blair and Glenn that alleged discriminatory actions and language used by Frenchko and by Godfrey against Fuda for creating a hostile work environment as a means of retaliation against her were dismissed.

A lawsuit filed in 2022 by county employee Dawn Guarino Gedeon, who claimed Frenchko expressed “anti-Italian prejudice and bigotry” toward her and “others of Italian descent” was settled by CORSA in July with a settlement of $225,000.

CORSA also agreed to a settlement with Vivoda-Klotz in which the clerk agreed to drop the civil lawsuit in exchange for $370,000.

The settlement amount will be paid partly through the county’s insurance fund, which will cover the bulk of the settlement of $250,000. About $50,000 will come from the commissioners’ fund.

The remainder will be about the amount of Vivoda-Klotz’s salary of $70,000 per year. She will be on paid leave until about July 5, 2024, which will allow her to receive her health insurance and credit / time in office while she undergoes treatment.

The decision to settle these two lawsuits were made by CORSA, which paid the majority of the settlement costs.

However, in the Vivoda-Klotz settlement, the commissioners had to vote on the portion of the settlement in which she was paid from the commissioners’ fund, which is from the county’s general fund revenue and allows her to remain employed by the county and receive county health benefits and pay through July.

Frenchko argues if the Vivoda-Klotz lawsuit had gone to trial, it would have exposed that much of her complaint was centered around her demotion and the loss of her office space, which occurred before Frenchko was a commissioner.

However, in the lawsuit filed against the commissioners, Frenchko was the only commissioner named in the document.

“My preference was to go to trial and let the employees lose,” Frenchko said. “The public has seen and heard one sided versions due to me having a gag order, and the other commissioners violating it. It would have been good for the public to see the deposition of the cases, and hear the facts, rather than slanted narratives by the commissioners who act as ministers of propaganda for the office ladies.”

The commissioner states the other lawsuits were dismissed because attorney Kathleen Minahan handled everything efficiently, causing summary judgments.

“Because three of the cases were practically triplicated by the attorney for three employees, her responses were similar. I was not deposed for any of the ethnic origin lawsuits,” Frenchko said.

The lawsuit filed by Cook in 2022 against the Trumbull County commissioners was on the basis of age discrimination. Cook was fired from his position of Trumbull 911 director in January 2021, shortly after he pleaded no contest and later was found guilty of loss of physical control of his vehicle and failure to report an accident that occurred in July 2018.

Cook’s position as 911 director temporarily was filled by Patty Goldner, who had been the deputy director. Goldner served as 911 interim director until the county hired Tacy Bond in June 2023.

The lawsuit is ongoing.

Frenchko also filed a lawsuit against her fellow commissioner arguing they are failing to properly follow Ohio’s open meeting law regulations. Because of her disagreement with their actions, Frenchko has not attended the regular workshop meetings usually held the day before their regular meetings. She usually hosts meetings with department heads and others on the agenda for the regular commissioners meeting.

“The board of commissioners has failed to take meeting minutes for over a year for half of their meetings,” she said.

Board President Denny Malloy has maintained the board has been following state laws and those passed by Trumbull commissioners on operating their meetings and maintaining meeting records.

At the recommendation of the prosecutor’s office, Cantalamessa and Malloy hired a private attorney, Brodi Conover, to represent them in the lawsuit filed by Frenchko that alleged open meetings violations. The prosecutor’s office could not represent the two commissioners because it also represents Frenchko.

“I was deposed for three hours in connection with her suit against us,” Malloy said. “I spent three hours in preparation for the deposition.”

Much of the time was during normal work time.

“So far, the lawsuits resulted in our receptionist having to work across the hall out of Niki’s harm’s way per the settlement and Paula is on one year paid leave to heal from Niki’s trauma, which delays us from having a permanent clerk and shuffle job duties to be split three ways,” Malloy said.

Malloy said the various lawsuits and the antagonistic atmosphere often present when the three commissioners must work together has taken its toll on them.

“Whereas Ashtabula and Mahoning commissioners often go to lunch, travel and attend events together, Mauro and I cannot even make eye contact or say good morning in the hallway without her alleging a violation,” Malloy said.

Cantalamessa noted that too often over the last three years, “we have been subject of unnecessary litigation that costs the county money and disrupts the administration of county business.

“I personally have been involved in hours of depositions, hearings and mediations, each which has pulled me away from doing work for the residents of Trumbull County,” he said. “Many other county officials and employees have had to work on discovery requests, public records requests, depositions and hearings as part of these lawsuits.

“I remain adamant that workplace conflict resolution should not be done in the courtroom,because no one really wins and the only ones that pay for it is the taxpayers,” Cantalamessa added.