North Huntingdon OKs settlement on officer's racial discrimination suit

North Huntingdon officials narrowly approved a settlement of a lawsuit a police officer filed against the township and a former manager over alleged racial discrimination when a new chief was named in 201 and what he contended was a hostile work environment.

Commissioners Jason Atwood, Eric Gass, Richard Gray and Virginia Stump voted to approve the settlement with Patrolman Albert P. Carson II, while Zachary Haigis, Lyndsay Wengrzyn and Ronald Zona opposed it.

Both North Huntingdon and former manager Jeff Silka were named in the lawsuit that Carson filed on Nov. 14, 2022. A settlement was reached through a mediation session in April, according to documents filed in federal court. The tentative settlement was revealed in a May 9 filing in the case. No details of the proposed settlement were provided.

Harry Faulk, township manager, declined to comment on the confidential settlement or the amount of money Carson is to receive under the agreement.

Silka, who left the township’s manager post in October 2021 for the city administrator’s position in Cumberland, Md., could not be reached for comment.

Attorney Thomas Pellis represents Carson. He could not be reached for comment.

Zona said he opposed it because, having been briefed on the case, he did not believe that Carson was a victim of racial discrimination

Haigis said he “did not support any type of settlement.”

“I did not believe he was not promoted (to chief) for racial reasons,” said Wengrzyn, noting he was a patrolman at the time he sought the chief’s job.

Even though she voted against the settlement, Wengrzyn said she believed it was the correct action because it would have cost the township money for lawyer fees if the case had gone to trial, where Carson could have won his lawsuit.

Stump said she voted yes, “begrudgingly.”

The township has liability insurance that will pay the settlement, said officials, who declined to comment on the amount of money Carson will receive.

In the lawsuit, Carson, who is Black, sought compensation for the loss of increased wages he would have received had he been promoted to chief in 2018, as well as “front pay” for salary he is not earning as the chief and attorney fees.

Carson, who was hired as a patrolman in 2003, alleged in the lawsuit that he was discriminated against when the township commissioners selected Sgt. Robert Rizzo as the new chief in September 2018. Rizzo had not applied for the job when it was initially open.

Carson contended that he was bypassed for the chief’s job because of his race. Sgt. Greg Arendas, the only other candidate for the position, turned it down after the commissioners were deadlocked on who to appoint for the job. The suit claims the commissioners approached Rizzo about applying for the [position.

The commissioners had named Rizzo in charge of the department when Lt. Rod Mahinske retired in May 2018. The department had without a permanent chief since September 2016, when Andrew Lisiecki was fired.

The suit also claims Carson was the victim of retaliation when he filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission over the alleged discriminatory treatment. The officer contended there was a hostile work environment created by comments and actions of his fellow officers.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found there was “reasonable cause to believe” Carson was the victim of discrimination when he sought the job as chief and referred his case to the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the lawsuit.

He also alleged that there was a hostile work environment within the police department, where jokes with a racial overtone were made to him and he was subjected to what the suit termed as “sham investigations” into his conduct and actions.