Williamsport, Pa. — Two Williamsport police officers who have been fighting a civil discrimination case against the city have filed a new lawsuit in state court while their federal case is still pending.
Neither the plaintiffs nor the defendants were in court Wednesday for the preliminary objections hearing.
Officers Steven Helm and Fred Miller have alleged that they were passed over for promotion within the Williamsport Police Department multiple times, dating back to 2017 for Helm and 2018 for Miller.
The officers allege they were overlooked due to activity conducted as union officials, including filing a separate civil suit against the city for anti-union activity.
The federal court filings listed the City, former Mayor Gabe Campana, and current Mayor Derek Slaughter as defendants in the civil suit. In the March 2022 state filings, Campana was removed as a defendant.
According to Miller’s attorney Michael Zicolello, Campana was removed as a defendant because the state filed a new deal where the officers were passed over for promotion after Campana had left the Mayor's office.
The state filings are a response to the promotions of Justin Snyder to police chief and Jason Bolt to assistant chief in Jan. 2021. The federal filing refers to Dec. 2020 when Bolt, an agent in the force at the time, was promoted to Captain of the Patrol Division.
Helm and Miller say they were passed over despite being more senior officers with more tenure at the time of the promotions. Both Helm and Miller are currently lieutenants with the Williamsport Police Department.
City attorney Sean Summers, during a preliminary objection hearing Wednesday, said that the state case should be dismissed against the city as it’s too similar to the federal filings. He called it a “waste of judicial resources,” arguing that the two filings contained much of the same content.
Summers said that because both trials are seeking the same results—including damages, court costs, promotion, backpay, etc.; and the fact that men “can’t be promoted twice"—then this case is egregious in the time it’s taking from the court.
Zicolello said that this new state filing involves separate incidents at different times. All previous information was included for background, he said. He also argued that parallel court filings are not uncommon.
Helm’s attorney Josh Cochran contested that this is clearly a separate issue with separate individuals in power that have the same “retaliatory position.”
Summers said the complaint, as filed, needs to be amended because it doesn’t explain why Mayor Slaughter didn’t promote them. He said he knows the officers can provide their reasoning after having deposed them in the past. He added that this was a secondary objection, and not his primary issue to bring before the court.
Presiding Judge David Klementik said that he would need to review the federal documents before filing a decision on whether the state suit can continue.
