By SHELLEY TERRY - Staff Writer - sterry@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon
November 22, 2008 01:04 am
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ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — A recently filed civil lawsuit accuses one township trustee of sexually-harassing a mentally disabled former township employee and the other two trustees of covering it up.
The 27-year-old alleged male victim and his parents sued the township, including trustees Samuel Bucci, Joseph Pete Sr. and Stephen McClure, individually and as trustees, and Samuel Bucci’s wife, Louise Bucci, and the Louise Bucci Trust.
Ashtabula attorney Carl F. Muller, of Warren and Young PLL, requested a jury trial when he filed the case Nov. 14 in Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court. Judge Alfred Mackey has been assigned to the case.
The alleged victim worked 6 1/2 years for the township and, according to the lawsuit, suffered “severe debilitating mental, psychological and emotional trauma that continues to this day” arising from Trustee Bucci’s sexual advances and “hostility (directed) towards him as a disabled person” from other township employees.
The lawsuit states township employees abused the victim verbally, taunting him and calling him a “retard” and that, despite the trustees and supervisors’ knowledge of the harassment, it continued, but they did nothing to stop it.
In May 2006, the victim moved out of his parents’ home and into his own house. According to the lawsuit, during this time, Trustee Bucci made sexual advances toward the victim, including unwanted touching and kissing the victim, while he was at work.
Trustee Bucci then began appearing uninvited at the victim’s home, according to the lawsuit. These home visits were unwelcome and included unwanted behaviors, including kissing, hugging, touching, talking about sex and parts of the male anatomy, the lawsuit states.
According to the victim, Trustee Bucci warned him not to tell anyone about the advances and said they must be “taken to the grave,” the lawsuit says. The victim believed he could not refuse the advances because Bucci had the ability to terminate his employment, the lawsuit states.
“The (victim’s family) is very disappointed they have been forced to file a lawsuit to protect their son,” Muller said. “Rather, they have spent the past 1 1/2 years in an attempt to avoid litigation,” he said. “In an effort to resolve this matter quietly and informally, they have provided the township’s attorneys with a host of evidence, testimony and medical records supporting their claims.”
Muller said the victim’s family did all this in good faith.
“Unfortunately, the trustees have refused to take responsibility for their conduct and have shown no interest in resolving this matter,” Muller said.
During 2006, the victim and Bucci’s sexual relationship became known to the other two trustees and among township employees, the lawsuit states. According to the lawsuit, Bucci was touching and kissing the victim at home and at the township’s work sites, including in front of other township employees, who then would call the victim sexually derogatory names and engage in other forms of hostile conduct in the workplace.
When contacted at home Friday, Samuel Bucci said he did nothing wrong.
“I tried to save (the victim’s) life,” he said, noting the young man was suicidal. “I went over to his house to check on him. He was a township employee, and I certainly didn’t want anything to happen to him.”
Bucci also said he’s 81 years old and that people in the township know of his character.
The lawsuit also states that, despite reports of harassment, none of the trustees, nor the former employee’s supervisors, did anything to stop it. According to the complaint, in failing to provide the victim with a work environment free of harassment, the township is liable.
Pete said the lawsuit’s allegations of nonfeasance or misfeasance are ridiculous.
McClure agreed. “There are two sides to every story, but the idea of a cover-up is preposterous,” he said, adding that further questions can be directed to the township’s attorney, David Pontius of Ashtabula.
Pontius said he is one of several attorneys on the case but he cannot comment now.
The lawsuit states, in the fall of 2006, the victim began behaving abnormally, including expressing suicidal thoughts. In January 2007, the township terminated the victim, the lawsuit states. The alleged victim’s suicidal behavior recurred in 2007, and as a result, he was hospitalized and has experienced a significant amount of trauma, damages and injuries. The alleged victim continues to be under psychiatric care for severe mental, psychological and emotional injuries that occurred as a result of the defendants’ conduct, according to the complaint.
All together, the lawsuit names 15 causes of action, including sexual harassment, disability discrimination, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In addition, the lawsuit names a further cause of action: “wrongful and fraudulent conveyance,” which arises from actions taken by Samuel and Louise Bucci: Prior to April 23, 2007, they held title to their property in joint survivorship. The complaint says on April 23, 2007, the couple filed a quitclaim and retitle the property to Louise Bucci, trustee of the Louise Bucci Trust. Samuel Bucci claims the retitling wasn’t to counter possible litigation or limit liability but rather because, earlier in 2007, he was very ill and was hospitalized.
“We went ahead and made my funeral arrangements,” he said. “We put everything in my wife’s name.”
In the lawsuit, the family is asking the township for compensatory damages, in excess of $25,000 for each of the 15 causes of action, and $25,000 in punitive damages for each of the 15 causes of action, plus it asks for attorney fees and court costs. Damages are requested from the three trustees as employers, from Louise Bucci and the Louise Bucci Trust, and from the trustees individually.
Muller said the victim’s family stands by the allegations contained in the complaint.
“Expect further evidence to arise during the discovery process, which will support their claims, and ultimately, they expect to be vindicated after the trial,” he said.
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Photos
SAMUEL BUCCI