Former Lackawanna County Commissioner Debi Domenick accuses the county and its Court of Common Pleas of sex discrimination related to her continued classification as a 1099 contractor without benefits in her current position with the county court.
She’s held that position since June, when former county President Judge Trish Corbett signed an order appointing Domenick — a lawyer and former county public defender who served one term as an elected Democratic commissioner from early January 2020 to early January 2024 — to the part-time position of juvenile delinquency conflict counsel. Officials said at the time the job paid $1,500 a month, noting Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Chris Chermak and then-Commissioner Matt McGloin had nothing to do with Domenick’s appointment.
Correspondence obtained by The Times-Tribune, addressed to the county and the commissioners and sent May 23 by the law firm Karpf, Karpf & Cerutti P.C. states that Domenick retained the firm to represent her in federal action against the county and the county court for violations of the Civil Rights Act’s Title VII, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and the Equal Pay Act. Domenick specifically alleges that she’s classified in her county court capacity as a 1099 employee without access to benefits despite the county employing a male counterpart in the same position but as an employee with benefits and at a higher salary, the document notes.
“Both the Equal Pay Act, and Title VII (& relatedly the PHRA), prohibit disparate pay based on sex,” it reads. “Merely labeling a worker as an employee or ‘independent contractor’ is not dispositive and the question of whether a particular defendant is an employer under the EPA or someone is an employee as defined under Title VII is a question of fact. Ms. Domenick has been paid in a discriminatory fashion since her appointment in June of 2024.”
The correspondence further notes that Domenick was “constrained” to pursue health care coverage through COBRA, incurring monthly costs of $1,191.77 in 2024 and $1,220.70 in 2025, causing at least $15,000 in out-of-pocket damages. It also notes Domenick’s intent to pursue claims in federal court if the matter isn’t otherwise resolved.
“Ms. Domenick intends to seek all damages sustained as a result of being paid disparately in comparison to her male colleagues, as well as all exemplary and compensatory damages as permitted by law,” it states.
A charge of discrimination document signed by Domenick and obtained by the newspaper claims discrimination on the basis of sex and retaliation, alleging Domenick tried to resume her prior job duties with the county Public Defender’s Office but was declined a position based on “numerous improprieties” she raised as a commissioner, “including protesting in good faith what she believed were Title VII violations constituting sex discrimination and retaliation.”
It was not immediately clear if the charge had yet been formally filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
The copy obtained by the newspaper claims Domenick was “blackballed” from a position in the public defender’s office prior to her appointment as a juvenile delinquency conflict counsel and alleges that, though she is now a “functional employee,” she is being paid on a 1099 basis without benefits.
“However, Respondents employ a male employee (paid via W2 and afforded County benefits), who is also employed as a conflict counsel and performing the same job functions as Claimant,” the charge reads. “Separately, Respondents have other ‘conflict counsel’ positions they employ in a W2 capacity with full County benefits, including four (4) other male conflict attorneys in the Adult Criminal Division of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas.”
County Solicitor Donald Frederickson confirmed Wednesday the county received the correspondence from Domenick’s attorney and the EEOC allegation, noting officials are reviewing the charge with the county’s labor counsel.
“We have no further comment at this time but we’ll be representing the interest of the taxpayers,” he said.
Gaughan declined to comment on the matter. Chermak said he believes in “fairness.”
“And if she’s entitled to what she’s asking for and if her male counterparts are receiving it, then I would certainly support her right to receive it,” he said of Domenick.
Efforts to reach Domenick and attorney Christine E. Burke, the Karpf, Karpf & Cerutti partner who sent the May 23 correspondence, were not immediately successful, nor were efforts to reach county Court Administrator Frank Castellano.
Domenick’s time in office was sometimes turbulent, marked by a series of controversies involving the Lackawanna County Prison.
The former commissioner came under scrutiny in early 2022 after it was revealed she possessed and lost a key to the prison’s wooden front doors that Warden Tim Betti said he never authorized, though Domenick insisted she never used the key and couldn’t remember who gave it to her. A private detective’s taxpayer-funded investigation drew no conclusion about who provided the key.
Later that year, then-District Attorney Mark Powell, now a county judge, accused Domenick in court documents of ordering a subordinate to retrieve emails from a county server to gain information about an investigation involving a prison employee. She demanded the emails in late May 2022, ignoring concerns voiced by other county officials, emails obtained by the newspaper showed.
Powell sought an injunction in county court barring Domenick from accessing his office’s emails, with Domenick accusing Powell of sensationalizing his claims and bringing the civil case for political purposes. She was adamant she complied with county policy in requesting the emails, never sought or intended to request emails of the district attorney’s office or county judiciary and never received privileged or confidential information.
Domenick ultimately signed an agreement in August 2022 stipulating she’d be prohibited from accessing emails and stored electronic data of the district attorney’s office, which effectively ended the case.
Powell also opened a criminal investigation that summer into the deletion of a digital record documenting a 21-year-old Domenick’s brief confinement at the prison Aug. 19, 1995, though the investigation failed to determine who deleted the record and did not lead to criminal charges. Domenick denied any involvement in deleting the record and said she welcomed the investigation.
She was the second woman ever to serve as commissioner in Lackawanna County and the first Democratic woman elected to the position, but did not seek reelection in 2023.