Lorain County's insurance carrier to pay $12,500 to settle lawsuit by former Forensics Lab employee

Lorain County's insurance carrier will pay $12,500 to a former county Forensics Lab employee and her attorneys to settle a 2025 discrimination and retaliation lawsuit. The County Risk Sharing Authority, or CORSA, will pay $6,821.50 to Yassed Lucca and $5,678.50 to her attorney, Brian Spitz. The payments will settle allegations Lucca made against the county in a 2025 lawsuit in Common Pleas Court. The parties took the matter to mediation and reached the settlement in April. The county and its employees deny all of Lucca's claims, deny any violations of law and admit no liability nor any wrongdoing, according to the terms of the settlement. The settlement was finalized July 2 and signed by county officials on July 9, according to a copy obtained by The Chronicle-Telegram through a public records request. The lawsuit alleged commissioners didn't do anything to address Lucca's requests for accommodation for chronic illnesses that required her to walk and and stand less frequently. Lucca, who moved to Elyria from Puerto Rico in 2016, was hired in 2019 as a lab technician at the Forensics Lab in the basement of the County Administration Building. Her lawsuit said that in 2021, Lucca was diagnosed with three health conditions that were painful but didn't stop Lucca from doing her job as long as she got frequent breaks and avoided too much standing and walking, according to her lawsuit. She alleged that her requests for accommodations in 2023 and 2024, including a larger work space, were dismissed by county Human Resources employees. Lucca also accused now-former lab director Gillian Person of "aggressive" behavior, including alleged racial and disability discrimination. Lucca is Hispanic and Person is white. Lucca's position was eliminated in 2024 after the lab decommissioned a piece of equipment she had been hired to run. Lucca alleged that was a "pretext" to fire her in retaliation for her accommodation requests and workplace complaints. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.