West Kittanning Borough Tangled in Lawsuit

by Tiffany Chaffee

Former West Kittanning Police Lieutenant Anthony Sawl is suing the Borough of West Kittanning and members of Council for termination without cause.

According to documents filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, Sawl is suing the Borough of West Kittanning as well as council members Clifford J. Neal, Kenneth D. Trudgen, Robert Venesky, Jim Sobiski, Nancy Capone, Bernie Bowser, Sr. individually. The suit also names Mayor Bernie Bowser, Jr., and Borough Secretary Jeanne Englert, individually as well as part of their position held in West Kittanning.

Craig H. Alexander, an attorney with the Pittsburgh firm of Bruce E. Dice and Associates, P.C., will be representing Sawl.  Those who were named as Defendants in the case have hired Mark R. Hamilton from the Pittsburgh law firm of Cipriani and Werner to represent them. 

In legal documents filed on December 29, 2009, Sawl alleges that the West Kittanning Borough Council called a special meeting on October 11, 2007, during which time he was terminated from his position.  “[He] was stunned,” reads the complaint.  “He had no prior notice that he was going to be terminated.”

The documents also state that the Borough has still not officially informed Sawl of the reason of why he was terminated. 

Sawl further alleges that Council members Trudgen, Neal, Venesky, Capone, Bowser Sr., and Sobinski, as well as Mayor Bowser Jr. and Englert conspired against him, in order to terminate his position.  Sawl continues stating that these members’ actions were “intentional, wanton, willful and outrageous.”

Sawl’s complaint also alleges that he was “discharged by the defendants in retaliation for making good faith reports of wrongdoing, which in his position as Police Officer and Officer in Charge he was required to do by law.”

The incident that Sawl believes caused his termination took place on September 29, 2007, just thirteen days before he was fired, when Councilman Neal was “involved in an act of official oppression” at an event at the West Kittanning Fire Hall.  Additionally, a complaint was filed by David Lancos against Neal that same night.  The police report cited Neal for “harassment, public intoxication, official oppression, and interference in police investigations.” 

Sawl is asking that the courts pass judgment to give him “equitable relief reinstating plaintiff with full back pay and benefits, compensation for non-economic damages, attorney fees, costs, interest, and expenses, punitive damages, and finally other such relief as this court deems appropriate.”

The defendants requested last week to have the case moved out of the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas and into a western Pennsylvania District Federal Court. Since the complaint alleges Sawl’s constitutional rights were violated, the defendants wanted to move the case since federal courts typically deal with constitutional rights issues.

When contacted for a comment on the case, Hamilton denied, stating that he just received the case and “didn’t feel it was fair to my clients to comment at this time.”  Calls from the Kittanning Paper to the Plaintiff’s attorney, Alexander, were not returned.

Lady Cats Win Conference Game Against Lady Rams

Kittanning Senior Britta Emberg shoots the ball at the net during last night’s Kittanning-Highland game.

by Tiffany Chaffee

The Kittanning Lady Wildcats improved their record to 8-4 overall with a win against the Highland Lady Golden Rams last night in a conference match-up.  With this win, the Lady Cats have now tied the Lady Golden Rams in the WIPAL Section 1 (AAA) conference; both teams hold the record of 3-2 in conference play. 

The Lady Cats scored twelve points in the first quarter, but the Lady Rams kept the scoring close by totaling nine points.  However, in the second quarter, the Lady Cats stepped up their offense and scored thirteen points.  The defense held the Lady Rams to a total of four points.

The Lady Rams committed eight fouls during the first half of the game, and the Lady Cats worked hard to try to convert those chances into points.

“We have been working hard on our foul shots in practice,” said Kittanning Head Coach Janelle Kotyk.  “We played a hard-nosed defense.  I was very happy with the performance tonight.”

The Lady Cats came out after half-time and got to work on the offense again.  During the third quarter, the Lady Cats scored another eleven points to give them a lead with a score of 36 going into the final quarter of play. 

The Lady Rams started to make up points and inch closer to the Lady Cats’ lead; however, their lack of discipline showed when the team took five fouls in the final quarter.  The Lady Cats took advantage of the opportunity and captured the game by winning with the score of 50-37. 

Kittanning Senior Britta Emberg led the Lady Cats in scoring for the night putting up sixteen of the fifty points.

“We did a nice job on offense,” said Kotyk.  “We normally are scoring in the mid-30s, so to put up 50 points is great.  I’m very pleased with that.  Things went our way tonight.”