NEWTON FALLS — In response to learning she has been placed on six-month suspension without pay from her job as village finance director, Anna Musson has made an appeal via letter to village council charging her boss with retaliating against her.
In a May 28 letter to council members obtained recently by the newspaper, Musson states she wrote the letter “because there appears to be misrepresentations on the reason that I have not been engaged in my duties.
“I have not requested a leave of absence nor has David Lynch provided any legitimate reason for putting me on administrative leave.”
However, Lynch, Newton Falls city manager, confirmed this week he has suspended Musson for not getting a health assessment. Lynch also confirmed he has given council members a report about Musson compiled by the law director. Lynch said he has the power to discipline Musson.
“I don’t want to call it an investigation,” Lynch said in noting that he doesn’t want to comment further on the allegations against Musson.
However in the May 28 letter, Musson said there has been no explanation on what medical exam Lynch has requested and has not given her a job-related reason for why a medical exam is necessary.
“I believe that Mr. Lynch is retaliating against me in direct response for my performance of my duties as finance director.”
Musson has been finance director since 2016, now making about $72,000 per year.
In response to a public records request from the newspaper, a letter dated June 14 in Musson’s personnel file shows that Lynch suspended Musson without pay.
In a May 7 letter to Musson, Lynch had ordered her to see an Austintown counseling center to get a medical assessment.
“The counseling center will conduct the appropriate medical assessment in hopes of allaying my concerns and possibly creating a program that will address them,” Lynch wrote to Musson.
At the time of the May 7 letter, Lynch had placed Musson on a 90-day paid administrative leave for medical purposes.
The personnel file had a memorandum from a worker in Musson’s office alleging harassment in the workplace. Lynch also had talked about concerns about Musson’s handling of her employees.
Lynch said only council can vote on dismissing Musson.
According to a letter from Jerome Linnen Jr., Musson’s attorney, to Lynch, Musson on May 4 told Lynch there was a pending investigation being performed by the Ohio Auditor’s office that Lynch had doubts on its validity. On May 6, the lawyer’s letter states Musson met with the village law director to discuss issues including improper city expenditures, audit issues and the illegal conduct of one of Musson’s employees. The employee issues, according to the letter, involved city for services provided by a member of that worker’s household.
An attempt to reach Linnen for comment was unsuccessful.
