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Former Cuyahoga County, Ohio, IT Boss Sues Over Unpaid Leave

The county’s former IT chief filed a lawsuit Thursday against the county and County Executive Armond Budish over the 19 months he had been on unpaid leave amid an ongoing corruption investigation.

(TNS) — The Cuyahoga County, Ohio, former information technology chief filed a lawsuit Thursday against the county and County Executive Armond Budish over the 19 months he had been on unpaid leave amid an ongoing corruption investigation.

The lawsuit, filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, claims that Scot Rourke’s extended leave is a violation of Ohio law. Rourke seeks payment for the wages and benefits he would have received had he not been placed on unpaid leave. His annual salary was $216,500.

Budish placed Rourke on leave in early 2018 after he was named in subpoenas in the criminal probe of Budish’s administration. Rourke was fired in October after County Council raised questions about why he remained a county employee after such a length of time.

The former lawyer for the IT Department, Emily McNeeley, was placed on leave at the same time as Rourke after she was also named in subpoenas. McNeeley has since been indicted and left her county job, but Rourke has faced no criminal charges.

“Nonetheless, the County kept Rourke in limbo, not paying him, not electing to terminate him, and not returning him to work for over a year and half. His position was not filled, he fully cooperated with all inquiries dating back to 2017, and he remained prepared to return to work as directed,” a press release from Rourke’s lawyer, Stuart Torch said.

Asked about the lawsuit on Thursday, a Budish spokeswoman said the county does not comment on pending litigation.

©2019 The Plain Dealer, Cleveland. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.