New Philadelphia register of wills sued for discrimination
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After vowing to restore trust in the office, Philadelphia's new Register of Wills, John Sabatina Sr., faces allegations in a new lawsuit that he fired former employees who were loyal to his predecessor.
Why it matters: The Register of Wills office has been caught up in legal turmoil since last year, and taxpayers have footed the bill in a pair of settlements with potentially more on the way.
The big picture: Philadelphia has already paid out $125,000 to settle a pair of lawsuits brought against former Register of Wills Tracey Gordon, who ended her term in January. She was accused of retaliating against employees for not donating to her political campaign.
- Former clerk Thomas Campion received $90,000 while Gordon's former press spokesperson Malik Boyd settled for $35,000, city spokesperson Ava Schwemler tells Axios.
- Gordon still faces three lawsuits, including the case of former clerk Mark Wilson. Gordon is expected to testify at Wilson's trial, which is scheduled for October, per court records.
Catch up quick: Sabatina, an estate attorney, took over the office earlier this year after easily defeating his Republican challenger, Linwood Holland.
- He beat Gordon in a hard-fought Democratic primary election, vowing to rid the office of "corruption."
Driving the news: Five of Gordon's former employees say in a federal lawsuit filed this month that Sabatina has engaged in similar acts of political retribution.
- Per the complaint, Sabatina fired 19 employees of color after taking office and replaced them with white workers who are loyal to him.
- The plaintiffs — four Black workers and an Arab employee who were all fired Jan. 9 — allege in the suit that their employment was terminated due to racial discrimination and because they either supported Gordon or didn't endorse Sabatina.
- The city and Sabatina's office declined Axios' request for comment on the lawsuit.
What they're saying: The former employees say that their dismissals violated their civil and free-speech rights to back their preferred candidate in the election.
- Timothy Creech, the former employees' attorney, tells Axios his clients had received positive performance reviews and were in good standing when they were let go.
- "This is not a revolving door of patronage," Creech says.
Zoom in: The government watchdog group Committee of Seventy has advocated for other city agencies to manage the Register of Wills and several city row offices, president Lauren Cristella tells Axios.
- Cristella says folding the Register of Wills into the mayor's cabinet would provide more oversight and save taxpayers money that's being spent to settle lawsuits.
- The most recent allegations against Sabatina show, "It's not the person, it's the structure of the office," Cristella says.