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DEAR EDITOR:
Many workers in world history have quit jobs due to acrimony with an employer or supervisor.
Amidst the Trumbull County theatrics, some readers might have overlooked the $225,000 settlement awarded to county secretary, Dawn Gedeon, for emotional turmoil on the job.
According to govsalaries.com, Gedeon earned nearly $49,000 last year, and assuming she withholds 25 percent in taxes, she keeps $36,750. After taxes and a 33 percent attorney fee, she keeps roughly $113,000 of the award. Therefore, she received more than three years of salary, even though any supposed maladies inflicted by Commissioner Niki Frenchko occurred over the last two years. If she worked for a private employer, would a tort have been filed without the layers of insulation provided by a public sector union?
The officials with County Risk Sharing Authority (CORSA) calculated taxpayers would save money by settling the lawsuit versus contesting in court. They know citizens will bear the cost of paying higher deductibles and premiums. These costs could be paid by reducing services, or by increasing sales tax rates.
The economic law of demand stipulates when something becomes less expensive, the demand increases. By capitulating, CORSA opened the floodgates for more lawsuits. If it had to use its own dollars, there would be an inducement to think about the future. A private sector employer would be more likely to challenge, even if his legal and court fees exceeded the settlement, because a victory would likely squelch or diminish future litigation.
One of the qualitative and perhaps hidden costs of rewarding petty grievance is the backlogging of other cases that might have more merit or severity. The old legal aphorism is justice delayed equals justice denied.
In times of yesteryear, people went to great lengths to avoid the label of victim due to traits such as pride and mental toughness. Americans have become conditioned to voraciously seek that status, not because of tangible injury or loss, but because it pays.
BRIAN VERCH
Howland