The transfers of two of the four women who in March 2021 filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Schuylkill County Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. to new courthouse jobs were rescinded on Wednesday, more than three months after their appointments.

Tax Claim Director Angela Toomey and Assistant Director Denise McGinley-Gerchak, who were suspended without pay from their jobs in September 2021, were hired on Sept. 22, 2022, as clerks in the Clerk of Courts Office. They were to earn $12.49 an hour, beginning Oct. 3, 2022.

But they never started their new jobs, and the transfers were rescinded at a public commissioners’ meeting.

Clerk of Courts Maria T. Casey has been a staunch and vocal advocate for the women.

She spoke during the public comment part of the meeting, saying the women had questions before starting their new jobs that were never answered.

“They made repeated requests to (Human Resources) in writing to get clarification on what would happen to them were they transferred to my office. They were never answered,” she said.

The questions, Casey said, included how the transfers would affect their pensions.

Toomey, Gerchak, and two others filed the lawsuit on March 16, 2021, in U.S. District Court, Scranton. In the suit, they are identified as Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 3, and Jane Doe 4.

A related suit, between the U.S. Department of Justice and the county, alleging the county violated the women’s civil rights, was settled on Tuesday.

Included in the settlement is the requirement that the county hire a DOJ-approved consultant to conduct sexual harassment surveys of courthouse employees, propose improvements to the county’s equal employment opportunity policies and develop a new sexual harassment training program.

The settlement also bars Halcovage from directly contacting the women and barring him from their offices.

It also was grounded on the county’s offer of $850,000 to the women to settle, plus additional amounts for their attorneys’ fees and costs.

They rejected the offer.

Depositions are still being taken in the lawsuit, and the information gathering is expected to continue through June 12, 2023.

The suit alleges Halcovage sexually harassed the women from when he was first elected in 2012, and that other county officials did nothing to stop it, and tried to cover it up.

A second complaint, filed on Oct. 29, 2021, contends the women were subjected to retribution for filing the initial suit, including being demoted and suspended without pay; they’ve also faced two attempts to have them fired.