Employee sues Pike for firing

Demands damages and a return to her position

By TOM KANE

MILFORD, PA — The former director of the Pike County Children and Youth Services, Dawn Metzger, has begun a suit in Federal court in Scranton against the Pike County Commissioners.

According to the complaint registered with the Federal Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Metzger is seeking an award of damages, injunction relief, attorney’s fees and reinstatement into the job from which she was dismissed on February 25.

According to the court papers, Metzger alleges that she was dismissed because she disagreed with a directive from county commissioner Harry Forbes demanding that she return a child she was assisting to the child’s foster parents. When she refused, she subsequently lodged a complaint against Forbes with the state authorities. She alleges that this action got her dismissed by the commissioners.

The commissioners issued a brief press release on the matter on July 22, which was read by county attorney Thomas Farley at the commissioners’ meeting.

In the release, the commissioners based their decision on information received from the county’s Court of Common Pleas regarding testimony from employees who worked with Metzger and third-party individuals who had continual contact with her in her professional position. The nature of the testimony was not disclosed.

The release said Metzger was given a hearing with counsel and was offered another position in the county. The release alleges that she accepted the position but rejected it six days later and was terminated for job abandonment.

“It is unfortunate that this matter has become public,” Farley said. “The commissioners will vigorously defend their decision to remove Ms. Metzger as the director of Pike County Children and Youth Services. They are confident that the court will dismiss her claim under the ‘Whistle Blower Law’ as it is without merit.”