Another task required in the settlement of a discrimination lawsuit between the U.S. Department of Justice and Schuylkill County was checked off Wednesday when commissioners hired a $450 an hour consultant to address harassment and retaliation in the workplace.

All three commissioners - Gary J. Hess, George F. Halcovage Jr., and Chairman Barron L. Hetherington - voted to approved the mandated hiring.

They had no option.

“It is an order of court,” said county Solicitor Al Marshall.

The contract with Employment Practices Group, Wellesley, Massachusetts, includes “other costs and expenses” in addition to the hourly rate.

Outside the meeting, County Administrator Gary R. Bender said the settlement requires the county to hire the consultant by March 3.

“They gave us a list of four firms, two from California, one from New York, and one from Massachusetts,” Bender said.

According to the settlement, known as a consent decree, requires that the county will select and retain, at its own expense, a consultant from a list of four provided by the DOJ, all of whom have expertise in crafting anti-harassment and anti-retaliation employment policies and conducting anti-harassment and anti-retaliation training.

That consultant will conduct workplace climate surveys of all county employees to gather information about harassment and retaliation in the workplace.

The consultant’s report will, at a minimum, include recommendations, draft policies, and draft training materials to implement policies addressing prohibited forms of harassment and retaliation and an anti-retaliation policy, which includes that people who complain of prohibited forms of harassment and/or retaliation will

not have the terms or conditions of their employment altered in a way that might dissuade a reasonable employee from making a complaint.

Commissioners, in a split vote with Halcovage opposed, signed off on the decree on Jan. 11.

On Feb. 15, commissioners ticked off another requirement of the settlement by hiring McNees, Wallace and Nurick, which has an office in Scranton, for $380 an hour to investigate any complaints of violations of workplace policies such as sexual harassment.

McNees, Wallace and Nurick, which has an office in Scranton, The settlement resolved the legal dispute between the DOJ and the county that was based on the charges of discrimination filed by four courthouse workers with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The workers, all women, in March 2021 filed a federal sexual harassment lawsuit against Halcovage and other county officials, contending that Halcovage sexually harassed the women since he was first elected in 2012. He has denied the accusations.

An addition to the suit was filed in October 2021, contending the women were subjected to retaliation for filing the first suit by two of them being demoted, accused of misusing county software, and suspended without pay.

The women are identified in the suit as Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 3 and Jane Doe 4. The suit is being heard in U.S. District Court, Scranton with Magisterial District Judge Martin C. Carlson presiding.

The DOJ joined the suit in May.

The settlement affected only the dispute between the DOJ and the county.