Westmoreland County OKs settlement of racial discrimination lawsuit

The Westmoreland County commissioners have approved a $12,000 payout to settle a lawsuit filed by a former jail guard who claimed she was improperly fired after she raised allegations of racial discrimination.

According to the lawsuit filed in 2019, Bonita Hughey of Jeannette contended she was fired from her job at Westmoreland County Prison after just three months on the job in 2016.

Hughey, who is Black, claimed she was terminated after she repeatedly complained about being harassed by coworkers. She also claimed she was subjected to a racially hostile work environment, was punished for speaking out and was assigned jobs for which she was untrained.

In the lawsuit, Hughey also contended she was singled out and intimidated by white male guards who falsely claimed she wore a Black Lives Matter T-shirt under her uniform.

According to the lawsuit, she said jail administrators and the county’s human resources department did not take her complaints seriously or properly investigate the accusations.

According to court documents, county lawyers denied the allegations in the lawsuit and claimed Hughey was fired as a part-time jail guard for “unacceptable work performance.”

Westmoreland County Solicitor Melissa Guiddy said Thursday the settlement includes no admission to any of the allegations raised in Hughey’s lawsuit.

Attorney John Newborg, who represented Hughey during the litigation, confirmed the settlement of the case but declined further comment.