Lundy, Moore hire law firm to fight Williamson lawsuit; Hung abstains

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to hire a Cleveland law firm to defend it in a lawsuit filed by the county's former 911 director. Commissioners Matt Lundy, a Democrat, and David Moore, a Republican, voted to pay the law firm Stefanik Iosue & Associates not more than $75,000 to defend the county against a lawsuit by former 911 Director Harry Williamson. The vote was 2-0. Commissioner Michelle Hung, a Republican, abstained from the vote on the basis that she objects to the firm's alleged "union-busting strategies," she said Wednesday. Lundy and Moore fired Williamson in August 2021 after Hung admitted to them she was involved in an "inappropriate relationship" with him. Williamson last month sued current and former county officials, an attorney and a law firm that did work for the county. Among the numerous allegations in his lawsuit, Williamson said he and Hung started an extramarital affair after he was asked to serve on the Moore and Hung campaign transition team in late 2020. Hung has declined to comment on the "inappropriate relationship" or an affair, saying first that her personal life is not the public's business and later that she could not comment on pending or ongoing litigation. In a statement she provided to The Chronicle-Telegram, Hung wrote that she could not comment on pending litigation "per instructions from" the board's legal counsel, Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dan Petticord. However, Hung said commissioners hired Stefanik & Iosue at Moore's recommendation last spring "to assist the county with services related to workers' compensation matters." In March 2021, commissioners voted to hire the firm to handle employment matters for the county at a cost not to exceed $15,000. This time around, Hung said she investigated the firm and determined that among the services the firm "proudly" offers on its website are "union avoidance" and "union campaign response." "In other words, these are known union-busting strategies," she wrote. Hung further said Wednesday that she has a history of supporting and bargaining with unionized county employees. "After the departure of former Lorain County Administrator Tom Williams, I serving as the President of the Board quickly went to work to complete a successful contract negotiation with the FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) which represents the 911 dispatchers and the Lorain County Board of Commissioners," Hung said Wednesday. "I have proudly supported organized labor and will continue to advocate for fair and equitable contract negotiations for all of our employees that are represented by a union." Williamson was president of the Lorain County AFL-CIO, a 7,000-member union, when it endorsed Hung for commissioner over her opponent, incumbent Democrat Lori Kokoski, in the 2020 election. In an email, attorney Jeremy Iosue said his firm has an "excellent reputation" working with unions and their attorneys "to achieve fair and sustainable contracts for taxpayers and for workers." "Most of our clients are public sector entities with well-established unions and we are proud of our work. We are absolutely not 'union busters,'" Iosue wrote, adding that he comes from a union family, his father was a union member at General Electric "for decades," and his father-in-law was a union electrician for 40 years. He wrote that "The most effective 'union avoidance' methods involve providing fair and competitive wages and benefits." "Union campaigns are extremely rare and can be confusing to clients," he wrote. "We help them understand the process and teach them to maintain good relationships with their employees whether they are in a union or not. I've been involved in two union campaigns in my career. In both cases the employer voluntarily recognized the union and we assisted them in negotiating the initial contracts. As with all of my union negotiations, we arrived at a deal and walked away from the table as friends and colleagues." Hung and Moore hired Williamson, who had worked for CenturyLink and had knowledge of the county's 911 equipment, to run Lorain County 911 at an annual salary of $77,000 in January 2021. Lundy voted against hiring Williamson. The lawsuit, in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, names Moore and Lundy individually as defendants. It also names former county administrators Williams and Jim Cordes, attorney Amanda Martinsek and her law firm Ulmer & Berne, which provided legal counsel to the county while Williamson was employed at 911. The lawsuit is assigned to Judge James Miraldi's courtroom. Williamson is represented by attorney Brian Bardwell, who once also worked for The Chronicle-Telegram. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @daveobrienCT.