Lawyer files second lawsuit involving authorities | News, Sports, Jobs

YOUNGSTOWN — Former deputy district attorney Attorney Martin Desmond, now Rudzik Excavating Inc., who filed a petition Oct. 9 seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Desmond’s allegations against top county officials. filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on his behalf. It belongs to Struthers.

The lawsuit names many of the same officials as defendants, many of whom were at the polls Tuesday.

The new lawsuit alleges violations by Mahoning County Commissioners David Ditzler, Anthony Traficanti and Carol Rimedio Righetti, County Attorney Gina DeGenova and assistant district attorney Donald Duda.

The new lawsuit states that Rudzik Excavating participated in its constitutionally protected free speech by attending county commissioners board meetings that began in the spring and “expressing its displeasure with defendant Mahoning County’s requirement of costly project labor agreements (PLAs) on certain construction jobs.”

“PLAs are collective bargaining agreements between construction unions and contractors. They administered the terms and conditions of employment for all workers (union and non-union) on a construction project, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants committed violations related to the PLA matter “for criminal acts, including intimidation, falsifying records, tampering with evidence, mail fraud, attempted theft, tampering, interference with civil and legal rights, and dereliction of duty.” The case was assigned to Judge Benita Y. Pearson in U.S. District Court.

The Ohio Supreme Court appointed a visiting judge to hear Desmond’s petition on Oct. 9, requesting the appointment of a special prosecutor to determine whether laws were broken by county commissioners and DeGenova regarding the firing and rehiring of county maintenance worker Ricky . Morrison.

The defendants in this matter argued that Desmond’s petition was politically motivated. Ditzler, Traficanti and DeGenova are on the ballot for their respective positions on Tuesday.

PLA CASE

The federal lawsuit alleges that James Tressa, Rudzik Excavating’s senior estimator/project manager, spoke about PLAs at various commissioners’ meetings, spoke on news media and radio talk shows, and county commissioner David Ditzler “similarly made statements at commissioners’ meetings.” It is stated. , spoke on a radio talk show and made other statements to the media about the district’s views on PLAs.” Commissioners Rimedio Righetti and Anthony Traficanti also commented on the PLAs, the lawsuit states. It was stated that the meetings of the commission members were shown on YouTube.

Rudzik bid on two county projects in the spring of 2024 that required the bidder to agree to sign PLAs, but Rudzik “refused to sign PLAs on both projects,” the lawsuit states. “Mahoning County commissioners issued two resolutions finding Rudzik Excavation to be the apparent low bidder, but due to its failure to implement PLAs, the bids did not respond and were ultimately rejected,” it says.

Projects included replacing the Lake Milton water line and replacing the Poland County sanitary sewer.

Rudzik also submitted the “necessary provisional guarantees” along with his offers. A bid bond is “a guarantee to the project owner that the bidder will complete the work if selected,” according to the website www.investopedia.com. The lawsuit alleges: “Under Ohio law, Mahoning County was required to return Rudzik Excavating’s bid bonds when the bid failed. “After being informed by a non-defendant Mahoning County official that Mahoning County would seek forfeiture of the provisional bonds, Tressa attended the commissioners’ meeting and protested,” the lawsuit states.

In the lawsuit, Duda sent two demand letters to Rudzik’s insurance agents on the letterhead of Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova, asking for the forfeiture of Rudzik’s provisional bonds “as payment for the difference between Rudzik’s bid and the next lowest bidder.” “By law, Mahoning County has no right to waive provisional bonds to cover this amount. The lawsuit also alleges that Mahoning County has no other right to receive this payment.”

The suit alleges that comments made by the defendants, including those at commission meetings, “are not exempt from liability” because the remarks were made “at a time when no legislation was pending.” The comments were made “in retaliation for Rudzik’s exercise of his First Amendment rights,” the lawsuit states.

It is stated in the lawsuit that “damages and injunctions” are requested against the commission members and injunctions against DeGenova and Duda. According to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, an injunction is “a remedy that restrains a party from taking certain actions or requires a party to act in a certain way.”

REPLY

When Ditzler was asked about the new federal lawsuit, he said he had not seen or read anything on the matter. But he said: “Given the timing and source of the applications, it is clear that they are politically motivated.”

Traficanti declined to comment and Rimedio-Righetti did not respond to a request for comment.

DeGenova responded: “The matter was referred to our insurance counsel, who will vigorously defend me and my assistant. The last time I was sued by these attorneys, the case was dismissed within a few months. I believe the same will happen in this case.”