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Former Clerk of Courts employee sues over non-disparagement agreement

629 views · Published 29 August 2018 · 2:36 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2018 · News & Politics

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CINCINNATI - A former employee in the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts office has filed a lawsuit against her former boss, Aftab Pureval, and asked to be released from a non-disparagement clause she signed when she was fired.

Brittney Heitman worked as an office manager for the Clerk of Courts but was told on Feb. 17, 2017 that she was being terminated. Heitman and more than a dozen employees who were fired signed an agreement with Pureval's office that included a non-disparagement clause. Heitman and some of the other employees received severance.

Heitman filed a lawsuit claiming she shouldn't be bound by the non-disparagement clause since Pureval has claimed in news interviews that he was ridding the courthouse of political patronage and "make-work" jobs.

"Part of the consideration of the agreement is that he wouldn't say anything about it either. Well, he's gone out and disparaged her; he said she was a patronage employee, a nepotism employee and a make-work employee when in fact she was a very hardworking, dedicated, career public servant," said Christopher Finney, who represents Heitman.

Pureval made the comments in several news stories more than a year ago, but the suit was only filed on Aug. 21, mere months before the midterm elections. Pureval has touted the firings as saving taxpayers money and eliminating corruption. But Pureval's opponent in the race for the 1st Congressional District, incumbent Congressman Steve Chabot, has cited the firings in campaign commercials, calling the taxpayer-funded severance payments "hush money." Pureval's campaign defended the payments and non-disparagement agreements.

"NDA's are incredibly common in the workplace, in the workforce. They protect both the employee and the employer," said Sarah Topy, a spokesperson for Pureval's campaign. "I think Mr. Finney and Mr. Shrive are very politically motivated by the fact that they do this very often. They prey on taxpayer dollars to go after people whose poltics they disagree with."

Finney and Brian Shrive represent Heitman. The severance agreements were drafted in part by private attorneys who Topy said were part of Pureval's transition team. Julie Wilson, a spokesperson for the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, said the office was not involved in drafting the severance agreements. The prosecutor's office represents county elected officials in legal matters.

"Aftab, to my knowledge, has never named any employee, has been respectful and has been humane, treated them all well, gave them severance packages for those that deserved them," Topy said.

A hearing in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas was canceled Wednesday morning after Pureval's attorney, Paul De Marco, asked that the case be moved to federal court. Heitman's attorneys said it was a stall tactic and the severance agreements were likely drafted illegally and cannot be enforced.

"What Aftab is doing by the filing in federal court is just buying time," Finney said. "He's trying to avoid the reckoning that the court will give him for the illegal procedures that he employed in discharging these people."

The case in federal court has been assigned to Judge Timothy Black. A decision from him as to whether federal court is the proper venue could come soon.

When contacted Wednesday, former Clerk of Courts Tracy Winkler said non-disparagement agreements were never used when an employee was terminated while she was in office. She said the positions were funded by taxpayers and she believed the process should be an open one.

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