Trumbull engineer retracts stand

Photo

Trumbull County Engineer David DeChristofaro

By ED RUNYAN

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

An attorney for Trumbull County Engineer David DeChristofaro has filed a document with the Ohio Personnel Board of Review, retracting DeChristofaro’s earlier position that he fired an employee on his first day in office because there was insufficient work or pay for her.

Atty. Charles Richards of Howland filed a notice with the OPBR on Monday. It says Richards has learned since first being hired to defend DeChristofaro in a lawsuit filed by former employee Nicole Klingeman that the “no funds, no work” defense given for her firing is “inapplicable.”

The filing says the OPBR should give Klingeman her job back and award her back pay dating to Jan. 5, 2009, the date she was fired.

Richards said Tuesday that no agreement has been reached with Klingeman to put her back to work at the engineer’s office.

Atty. Subodh Chandra of Cleveland, who represents Klingeman in a federal lawsuit, said in a news release Tuesday that the Monday filing indicates DeChristofaro misled the public and misled the OPBR in October 2009.

“DeChristofaro has now effectively admitted that he gave false sworn testimony to government agencies,” said Chandra, a one-time candidate for Ohio attorney general. He called for DeChristofaro to resign.

DeChristofaro, reached by telephone Tuesday, said he would not resign.

Asked whether he incorrectly stated the reasons he fired Klingeman, DeChristofaro said: “I followed the direction of my legal counsel, as I continue to do,” and referred other questions to Richards. Richards said he could not comment on what DeChristofaro has told him because of his attorney-client obligations.

Neither Richards nor DeChristofaro have said what the actual reason for Klingeman’s firing was, but Chandra has maintained that it was because Klingeman supported former engineer’s employee Randy Smith in his bid to succeed his former boss, John Latell, as county engineer.

DeChristofaro defeated Smith in the Democratic primary election.

Klingeman was one of three people DeChristofaro fired on his first day in office. DeChristofaro recently settled with one of the others, Amanda Latell, for $175,000. Negotiations are ongoing with the third person, Matt Dohy.

Latell and Dohy are daughter-in-law and son-in-law of the former county engineer.