Luzerne County Tab Exceeds $500,000 For Suit Involving $70 Receipt

The 2009 termination of a Luzerne County employee over the alteration of a $70 receipt will cost the county more than $500,000, officials say. A council majority had grudgingly approved a $378,428 payment to former county veteran affairs director Richard Wren last month to cover a $200,000 jury award and Wren’s legal fees. The amount of the county’s own legal costs was not available at that time, but county Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo disclosed that $145,504 tally during this week’s council meeting at the request of citizen Ed Chesnovitch, who has criticized the county’s handling of the Wren matter. The additional expense brings the county’s grand total to $523,932. Normally, the county’s out-of-pocket expenses would be capped at the insurance deductible amount, which was $150,000 when Wren’s litigation was filed in 2011, Crocamo said Wednesday. However, the insurance company at that time, AIG, had informed the county it would not pay anything to continue pursuing the case or for a jury award if county officials rejected an offer from Wren’s legal counsel, Borland and Borland LLP, to settle the matter instead of proceeding to trial, said Crocamo. Crocamo said the original settlement offer rejected by the council in March 2014 was $185,000.