Mahoning County should hit ex-pathologist with a lawsuit

Mahoning County's former pathologist, Dr. Jesse C. Giles, is playing Coroner Dr. David Kennedy and other officials for fools.
Dr. Giles, who left two years ago for a new job in Florida, hasn't completed the work for which he had been paid -- handsomely, at that -- by Mahoning County. And yet, Dr. Kennedy and prosecutors say they aren't sure there's much they can do about it.
Of course there is: Sue the scoundrel for breach of contract.
Dr. Giles was hired as a forensic pathologist in 1995 with clear responsibilities: Conduct autopsies, prepare reports on the findings and testify in trials. He was paid $110,000 for his expertise. But when he resigned in 2002 to take a job in Florida, there were more than 80 unfinished autopsy reports.
The backlog became public only because one of the forensic examinations involved the victim in a murder case.
When Common Pleas Judge James C. Evans made inquires about the report, he found that the coroner and former pathologist were embroiled in a dispute over money: Dr. Kennedy had refused to pay Dr. Giles nearly $10,000 he was owed for unused vacation time, while Dr. Giles refused to complete the reports until he got paid.
Judge Evans put an end to the dispute when he ordered the coroner to approve the payment and ordered Dr. Giles to finish the capital-case report and get it to the prosecutors immediately. This occurred in February.
Backlog
Today, however, there are still 75 reports left to be completed and submitted to the coroner. This despite the fact that Dr. Giles told Assistant Prosecutor Jay Macejko in February the he would have the rest of the reports finished within six to eight months.
But with the money he was owed for unused vacation leave already in his pocket, what incentive does he have to get the job done?
A civil lawsuit for breach of contract would end the namby-pamby attitude reflected in a recent comment from the coroner: "Obviously I would have liked to have them before he left, but as long as we're getting them, I'm not overly concerned."
Not overly concerned? Doesn't Dr. Kennedy realize that a dangerous precedent has been set by Mahoning County not being more aggressive in pursuing Dr. Giles?
The coroner says that a lawsuit would be a last resort. A lawsuit should have been the obvious response once it became clear that the former pathologist had no intention of doing the work for which he had been paid.
A judge could demand that Dr. Giles appear in person. Absent a legitimate reason why the autopsy reports were not completed before his departure two years ago -- and he hasn't offered one to date -- Dr. Giles could be ordered to get them done by a date certain.
Failure to meet that deadline would result in a contempt of court citation. Perhaps he'd have time to get the reports written from behind bars.
County officials must recognize that being on public payroll -- the attendant benefits include a top-of-the-shelf pension plan -- is a privilege that must be respected. Government employees must be disabused of the notion that they don't have to work for the money they earn.
An example must be made of Dr. Giles. Sue the man.