pLOWVILLE — A former Lewis County dispatcher fired after passing campaign petitions to a now-former K9 deputy is taking legal action against the county to force a grievance hearing./ppMichelle Widrick, in a state Supreme Court lawsuit filed Monday in the Lewis County clerk’s office, is seeking a court order requiring the county to send to arbitration a grievance stemming from her mid-November termination by Sheriff Michael P. Carpinelli, also the county’s 911 coordinator./ppThe suit — filed by attorney Stephen Ciotoli against Mr. Carpinelli, the county Sheriff’s Department and the county attorney’s office — states that Mrs. Widrick, who had worked as a dispatcher for 17 years, was notified of her termination Nov. 19. On Nov. 30, she notified county attorney Joan E. McNichol that she was filing a grievance, but her attorneys were informed by letter Dec. 10 that the county had “decided that it considered the matter closed” and would not move forward with the grievance process./ppMs. McNichol declined comment, saying she hadn’t yet seen the lawsuit./ppThe matter stems from an incident Aug. 17 in which Mrs. Widrick met former Deputy Daryl R. Ortlieb, while in his K-9 vehicle, in a parking lot at the Lewis County Public Safety Building, where she handed him what the deputy initially claimed were copies of estimates she had received for ceiling fans to be installed in her garage. However, according to paperwork filed with the new suit, the pair in mid-November submitted a joint statement to the county admitting that the papers in question were actually independent nominating petitions for Deputy Todd A. Galarneau, who they had both assisted in an unsuccessful, late challenge of the incumbent sheriff last fall./ppMr. Ortlieb subsequently resigned after being confronted and interviewed on a few different occasions by Mr. Carpinelli, who said he was suspicious that department documents were being handed out in violation of office regulations and viewed the incident through binoculars. The former deputy — who has since taken a job with the Lowville Police Department — in September filed a lawsuit claiming he was forced to resign or be fired without being given an opportunity to defend himself against an insubordination charge leveled by the sheriff; that legal action is still pending./ppThe new lawsuit states that Mrs. Widrick was on 12 weeks of medical leave until Nov. 15, then was told she would not be put back on regular duty because of the investigation and decided to submit an affidavit and the joint statement with Mr. Ortlieb./ppShortly after that, she was terminated for various alleged offenses, including insubordination of a superior, failure to obey orders and departmental rules, participating in political campaign activity while on duty or in uniform and engaging in personal business without approval on county property./ppIn the suit, Mrs. Widrick suggested the sheriff was either aware of the petitions — containing signatures primarily collected over the course of the weekend prior to Aug. 17 — or suspicious that the pair was working for Mr. Galarneau’s campaign; Mr. Carpinelli has denied that his actions were political in nature. /ppThe former dispatcher indicated that she was hesitant to divulge the papers out of concern for repercussions from supporting a candidate running against the incumbent sheriff./p
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