Judge rules no open records, meetings laws broken in county settlement with Jennifer Battistelli

A judge has ruled in favor of former Lorain County prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson and the county commissioners in a lawsuit over public records related to a settlement Tomlinson paid more than two years ago to a former employee he was also dating. Visiting Judge Thomas Teodosio ruled in favor of current and former county officials over James Barilla, an Avon Lake attorney and Republican who filed suit in February 2024 in Common Pleas Court. Barilla sued Tomlinson, his chief civil prosecutor Dan Petticord and county Commissioners David Moore, Jeff Riddell and Michelle Hung, seeking public records related to a $100,000 taxpayer-funded settlement paid by Tomlinson, a Democrat, to his former employee/girlfriend, Jennifer Battistelli, in late 2023. Teodosio dismissed Petticord from the lawsuit last summer. Hung is no longer a commissioner. The lawsuit alleged the settlement was "the product of corruption and fraud," excessive, illegal and done in secret, and Barilla asked the court to order Battistelli to pay the money back. It also sought civil penalties for violating Ohio open records law and attorney fees for Barilla's lawyer, Jonathan Rosenbaum. Teodosio, a former appeals court judge appointed to prevent any conflicts of interest for Lorain County judges, ruled no public documents were destroyed or hidden and no violations of open meetings or public records law occurred. Commissioners didn't illegally spend the settlement funds and weren't liable for damages, Teodosio ruled. Battistelli's allegations of misconduct by her then-boss/boyfriend Tomlinson, in a draft U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint she never filed, were "not material to the Board of Commissioners approval and payment" of the settlement, Teodosio wrote. "A $100,000 settlement to resolve a discrimination claim is a reasonable decision," he wrote. "While (Tomlinson's) conduct may have been an inappropriate attempt to keep his personal issues with Battistelli out of public light, the allegations were not material to the $100,000 settlement of the potential discrimination claim which was agreed upon prior to the Prosecutor's Office receipt of the draft EEOC charge." A hearing will be scheduled to figure out if Barilla and Rosenbaum are due any damages, costs or attorney fees, Teodosio wrote. Barilla hired Rosenbaum at a rate of $350 per hour, and Rosenbaum claimed more than $66,600 in legal fees and more than $2,000 in expenses as part of the lawsuit, according to Teodosio's ruling. Defendants, plaintiffs respond Commissioner Jeff Riddell called the 2023 settlement "a business decision to halt litigation." "We thought we did that in the best interest of the taxpayers," he said. Fighting Battistelli in court would have cost more, Riddell said. He said the lawsuit was brought by Tomlinson's political opponents in an election year. "I don't know if there was an underlying issue of law, but the fact it was an election year and the political opponents were filing a lawsuit against a candidate, that whole weaponization of the legal system makes my blood boil," Riddell said. Justice and common sense prevailed, Riddell said. "I'm glad it's over," he said. "We continue to be impressed by Judge Teodosio's ability to wade through politics as a visiting judge and basically just look at the law." Tomlinson, Rosenbaum, Hung and Prosecutor Tony Cillo, a Republican who defeated Tomlinson in the election, all said they had no comment on the ruling. Messages seeking comment were left for Barilla and Moore. Commissioner Marty Gallagher, a Republican who wasn't in office at the time of the settlement or the lawsuit, said in a text message he was "glad the case is over."Battistelli is believed to be living in Arizona. She could not be reached for comment. Background Battistelli worked on Tomlinson's failed 2016 election campaign for county prosecutor and successful 2020 election campaign for the same post. In between, Tomlinson was her defense attorney in a 2019 misdemeanor criminal case in Avon Lake Municipal Court. Tomlinson hired Battistelli in January 2021 and they began dating that spring, according to interviews, police and court records. By spring 2023, they were getting in arguments that Battistelli recorded on her cellphone, which later were released publicly. One video allegedly showed Tomlinson smacking Battistelli in the head during a fight inside his office. Tomlinson denied that ever happened, and he has never been charged with assaulting Battistelli. In a second video, Tomlinson told Battistelli she was "getting paid a bunch of money to not do s---" in his office. Disciplined by Tomlinson's chief of staff, former judge James Burge, over an internal office matter, Battistelli resigned. She and her attorney drafted but never filed an EEOC complaint accusing Tomlinson of sex discrimination, retaliation and assault. Battistelli negotiated a $100,000 settlement with Tomlinson. Hung, Moore and Riddell approved a requisition to pay it. Barilla's lawsuit alleged that county officials failed to keep public records related to the settlement and didn't provide records they did have despite multiple requests. Tomlinson said all of the documents related to the case were available from his office. Despite that, Tomlinson's office refused to release the document to Barilla or the media, saying it was embarrassing. Teodosio later ordered him to release it. Tomlinson and Burge were charged with intimidation and tampering with evidence for allegedly trying to get Battistelli to withdraw her allegations, and Tomlinson also was charged with attempted bribery. Those felony charges, the result of a Lorain County Sheriff's Office investigation, were dismissed in Elyria Municipal Court in November 2024 after Battistelli failed to appear to testify. Republican Sheriff Jack Hall's Public Corruption Unit picked the investigation back up, and Ottawa County Prosecutor James VanEerten has been named special prosecutor to handle the case. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.