Suit settled with special education director
Trinity Area School District agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the district’s special education director, who claimed she and other female administrators faced retaliation when they complained about a hostile work environment.
The legal action by Dr. Pamela Wolosky claimed former superintendent Paul Kasunich belittled, threatened and falsely criticized her after she assumed her position in 2010.
In the complaint she filed in U.S. District Court in June, Wolosky claimed she was a victim of age discrimination, retaliation and other federal law violations, and she sought compensation for lost pay and benefits.
According to the settlement documents, Wolosky agreed to drop the civil case against the school district and is barred from reinstigating the lawsuit. There is no admission of guilt on the part of the school district.
Wolosky remains an employee at Trinity.
The settlement calls for the district to allocate the money as follows: $41,053 in back pay; $10,000 reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses; and $123,947 in compensatory damages and attorney’s fees and costs.
Terms of the settlement call for Wolosky’s salary to be adjusted to $112,200 retroactive to the beginning of the 2014-15 school year. Wolosky will be re-credited with 284 sick days, and the school district will pay into the state retirement plan on Wolosky’s behalf all contributions that would have been made had her annual salary from 2012 been adjusted.
By Karen Mansfield