Settlement reached to end federal lawsuit against Westmoreland County

Westmoreland County will pay a former county employee $130,000 to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit in which she claimed she was inappropriately fired in 2019.

Tiffany Schomer, a former deputy recorder of deeds and assistant office manager in the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office, contended the county commissioners fired her four years ago on false grounds after initially suspending her for participating in partisan political activities while at work.

Schomer, an active member of the county’s Republican Committee, was accused in February 2019 of using an office phone at the courthouse for a political purpose.

A month later, according to her lawsuit, she was fired for performance issues.

Schomer contended she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2013 and took another county job as an assistant office manager for then Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held in 2016. In her lawsuit, Schomer claimed county officials failed to accommodate her work-related issues caused by her illness and fired her rather than approving a transfer to another job.

“On information and belief, the allegations of improper use of county resources for political purposes were a pretext to justify terminating Ms. Schomer’s employment because of her disability and/or to avoid providing her a reasonable accommodation,” according to the lawsuit.

The county commissioners voted 2-1 Thursday to approve the $130,000 settlement, ending the case. Commissioner Gina Cerilli in casting the opposing vote said she would’ve liked to see the case go to trial.

Schomer referred questions about the settlement to her lawyer, who declined to comment on Wednesday.

At the time of her firing, the sheriff’s office was embroiled in ongoing legal issues related to criminal allegations that Held, a two-term Republican sheriff, directed his office staff and deputies to perform political activities towards his previous re-election campaign.

Held was defeated for a third term in office in November 2019.

After relocating to Florida after his election loss, Held pleaded guilty last year to one misdemeanor theft count. He was sentenced to serve six months on probation.