Former Westmoreland youth services center director files discrimination lawsuit

The former director of Westmoreland County’s Regional Youth Services Center claims in a federal lawsuit that she was discriminated against when she was replaced by a man who made $25,000 more than her.

Nicole Kamer of East Vandergrift filed the action against the county Friday.

In February 2020, Kamer was appointed interim director of the facility and got the job on a permanent basis six months later. During a meeting with human resources in March 2022, Kamer learned she was being demoted from director to deputy director at the Hempfield facility, which includes a 16-bed detention center for juveniles and a shelter program for troubled youths that can hold up to eight residents.

Kamer was told the county commissioners intended to rehire the center’s previous director, Rich Gordon, because some members felt a man would be better suited for the position, according to the suit. She was being paid $66,000.

Related:

 
• Westmoreland County hires back former Shuman Juvenile Detention Center director
 
• Westmoreland commissioner defends rehiring of juvenile detention center director

Gordon’s pay at the time of his hire in April was set by the salary board at nearly $91,000. He served as the director of the Regional Youth Services Center from 2013 to 2015 before taking over Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Pittsburgh until its closure in 2021, after the state revoked its license.

After Shuman’s closing, Gordon worked as an administrator in Allegheny County’s Children and Youth Services department.

“(Westmoreland County) gave Kamer no reason for why it decided to pay her male replacement $25,000 more annually than the amount it was paying her to do the same job,” the suit states.

She filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in June.

Kamer is seeking compensation of lost wages and benefits. County solicitor Melissa Guiddy declined to comment.