Latest news with #LackawannaCountyCourt
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Scranton-based treatment center faces eight lawsuits over data breach
A Scranton-based nonprofit addiction treatment organization faces eight class-action lawsuits regarding a data breach involving health and personal identification records of over 22,000 former and current patients. The separate, but similar, lawsuits filed from May 14 to May 23 in Lackawanna County Court each name as the defendant Drug and Alcohol Treatment Service of 441 Wyoming Ave. Claiming the agency negligently failed to safeguard its information technology network, the lawsuits are all potential class actions filed by prospective lead plaintiffs on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated. The lawsuits seek court certification of the class and unspecified damages, fees, costs and interest. Certification, if approved, would be a key step in favor of the plaintiffs. Whether or how the court might consolidate the cases also remains to be seen. Efforts to reach the nonprofit company were unsuccessful. A 'Notification of Data Security Incident,' posted on the website of the organization, says it 'became aware of unauthorized activity' on its network around Oct. 6 and took immediate action to secure it and have outside specialists investigate. By April 15, the analysis determined that a limited amount of information may have been accessed between Oct. 5-6, and 'the potentially affected information included patient names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, health insurance information, patient account numbers, medication information, diagnosis and treatment information, doctor names, and medical claims and billing information,' according to the notice. It added that DATS also implemented additional network security measures and reviewed its data protection policies and procedures. 'Although we have no evidence of misuse of information as a result of this incident, we encourage potentially impacted individuals to enroll in complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services we are making available,' the notice said. One lawsuit described the treatment center's corrective actions as 'too little, too late,' because the victims of stolen data lost time in detecting and preventing identity theft and face an increased risk of it. The company notified a governmental agency about the data breach on April 24, listing 22,215 victims, but waited until May 2 to issue a public notice and begin sending out letters to those affected by the incident, according to one of the lawsuits. Some of the other claims in the lawsuits include: • The cybercriminals appear to be a notorious ransomware group, 'Interlock,' which claimed credit for the breach and transfer of at least 133 gigabytes of data. If the data has not already been published on the dark web, it likely would happen soon. • The breach was preventable through various ways, including encryption, training, spam filters, firewalls, anti-virus and malware programs, to name a few. The agency should have known it was at risk because cyber attacks targeting health care entities have become widespread. • Plaintiffs already have spent considerable time reviewing bank accounts, monitoring credit and changing passwords and have suffered fear, anxiety and stress. Victims now face years of constant monitoring of their financial and personal records. Fraudulent activity might not come to light for years, and there could be a time lag in detecting it. • The center failed to adhere to federal guidelines and industry standards and violated health information protection rules. • Some of the other counts include: breaches of implied contract, confidence and fiduciary duty; unjust enrichment; and invasion of privacy. Seven lawsuits each had one individual lead plaintiff, while the other one had two plaintiffs filing jointly. The suits listed six plaintiffs as former patients, but did not specify the other three. The dates of filings, number of prospective lead plaintiffs and law firms representing them include: May 14: One plaintiff represented by the Shub Johns & Holbrook law firm of Conshohocken and the Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman firm of Washington, D.C. May 15: One plaintiff represented by the Kopelowitz Ostrow law firm of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Shamis & Gentile law firm of Miami. May 21: One plaintiff represented by the Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky law firm of Philadelphia and the Strauss Borelli firm of Chicago. May 21: One plaintiff represented by Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky and the Finkelstein, Blankinship, Frei-Pearson & Garber firm of White Plains, New York. May 21: One plaintiff represented by the Kopelowitz Ostrow law firm. May 21: One plaintiff represented by the Adhoot & Wolfson law firm of Radnor and the Siri & Glimstad firm of New York City. May 23: One plaintiff represented by the Shub Johns & Holbrook law firm of Conshohocken and the Clayeo Arnold firm of Sacramento, California. May 23: Two plaintiffs filing jointly represented by the Kimmel & Silverman firm of Ambler and the EKSM firm of Houston. According to the DATS website: the private, nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation was established in 1977 to provide outpatient treatment to residents of Lackawanna County suffering from drug and alcohol abuse; it grew over the years to become the state-designated provider for drug and alcohol counseling covering all of Lackawanna County and one of the largest outpatient service providers in the state; its roster has grown to 30 clinical staff members with an average monthly caseload of 700 patients; licensed by the state, the center is a provider for the Lackawanna-Susquehanna Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs. One of the lawsuits described the prospective class as 'nationwide.'
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judges deny Sacco entry in litigation over Lackawanna commissioner vacancy
A panel of Lackawanna County Court judges denied Brenda Sacco's petition to enter litigation over filling a commissioner vacancy, ruling that her interests are adequately represented by the county Democratic Committee and she has no legal standing to intervene in the case. The litigation was started last month by Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan and the county over filling the vacancy of former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin for the nearly three years remaining on his unexpired term. Brenda Sacco. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO) In a decision issued Wednesday, Senior Judges Carmen D. Minora, Robert A. Mazzoni and Vito P. Geroulo determined Sacco has no 'legally enforceable interest' in the case. That renders moot her companion motion for a protective order against the media from reporting on her, and thus the ruling also dismisses that motion. The judges noted the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee's legal response in the battle to fill a commissioner vacancy closely mirrored Sacco's petition to intervene in the matter. The committee and Sacco both contended the county's Home Rule Charter trumps a state court rule that would cut the committee out of the candidate selection process. 'In fact, the Democratic Committee's Answer is identical to Sacco's Proposed Answer. It is apparent to this court that the Democratic Committee simply copied Sacco's Proposed Answer' and adopted it as its own, the ruling says. 'It is so identical that the Democratic Committee's claim for relief is advancing Sacco's interest,' instead of its own 'in requesting a denial and dismissal of Gaughan's Petition to Amend. That claim has since been amended' by the Democratic Committee. The Home Rule Charter process had the Democratic Committee picking three candidates to forward to county judges, who then would select one of the three to fill the McGloin vacancy. The committee named three candidates — Sacco, who is a former county director of economic development, Olyphant Borough Council President James Baldan and Scranton School Director Robert J. Casey — as candidates to potentially replace McGloin. The Gaughan/county challenge claims the charter is trumped by Pennsylvania Rule of Judicial Administration 1908 of 2019, which says the county court — not a political party — shall receive applications from any interested candidates for the position. Noting she is the Democratic Committee's top candidate, Sacco sought court approval to formally enter the litigation, claiming she is victim of a 'smear campaign' against her via reporting by The Times-Tribune. If allowed to intervene in the case directly, Sacco would have backed the Home Rule Charter/county Democratic Committee process that made her the top finalist; and she also would have filed a separate motion for a protective order against Gaughan/the county 'from orchestrating false news stories about (her) in the local press,' according to her legal petition prepared by attorney Paul James Walker of Clarks Summit. In response to such claims in Sacco's petition, Lackawanna County Solicitor Donald Frederickson issued a statement Friday saying: 'To the extent that Lackawanna County is being accused of 'leaking' information to the press, this accusation is completely false and not based in reality. Any information which the county has provided to the press is public information which any citizen and taxpayer is entitled to receive. At no time was any confidential or privileged information relating to any employee or former employee disseminated by the county government.' The Democratic Committee's answer, filed Monday and prepared by attorney Adam Bonin of Philadelphia, claims the court rule was not established to guide Courts of Common Pleas when filling a county vacancy, but rather was created to give guidance when filling other elected office vacancies pursuant to statutory authority, including under the Pennsylvania Borough Code and the Pennsylvania Public School Code. 'It is specifically denied that the resignation of Commissioner Matt McGloin created such a scenario, as his vacancy must be filled pursuant to a Home Rule Charter provision and not pursuant to statutory authority,' the Democratic Committee reply states. 'The Supreme Court cannot simply promulgate internal rules that change the scheme of an enacted Pennsylvania Home Rule Charter.' Meanwhile, Republican Commissioner Chris Chermak opposes the county's participation in the litigation and also has filed in court a legal action to remove the county as a party to the case. The panel of judges has scheduled oral arguments in the litigation to be heard April 22. Briefs from all parties in the case must be filed with the court no later than Monday.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bob Bolus booted off ballot in Scranton mayoral election
SCRANTON — A Lackawanna County Court judge on Thursday excluded Bob Bolus as a candidate for Scranton mayor in the May 20 Republican primary. In an unrelated ballot challenge, a different judge excluded Dean Faraday as a candidate for South Abington Township supervisor in the GOP primary. And in another unrelated ballot challenge, Scranton resident Frankie Malacaria prevailed over objectors and will remain on the primary ballot as a Democratic candidate for Scranton City Council. Here's a look at each case: Bolus bounced from Scranton mayoral election Scranton Republican Charlie Spano completed a hat trick against Bolus, by successfully challenging his attempt to run for Scranton mayor in the GOP primary and getting him knocked off the ballot. Spano previously successfully challenged Bolus' candidate petitions in 2019 and 2021. Like the prior two cases, the current challenge generally centered on Bolus' criminal record of having past felonies and how that related to his candidate petitions. Spano argued Bolus falsely claimed in candidate affidavits that he was eligible to hold the office of Scranton mayor, but he was not eligible because of his past felony convictions. Bolus contended he was seeking an expungement and believed he could run for the office. After hearing arguments Wednesday from Spano and Bolus, Judge Terrence Nealon issued a 23-page ruling Thursday that determined Bolus' lack of a valid candidate affidavit in his nomination petition rendered it 'fatally defective.' Nealon granted Spano's petition to 'set aside' Bolus' nominating petition and directed the Lackawanna County Board of Elections to exclude Bolus as a candidate for the Republican nomination for mayor in the primary. Bolus had said after Wednesday's hearing that he would appeal a ruling that booted him off the ballot. For Scranton's four-year mayoral term, incumbent Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and former Scranton School Board President Bob Sheridan will battle for the Democratic nomination, while on the Republican side newcomers Trish Beynon and Lynn Labrosky each seek the GOP nomination. Meanwhile, Lackawanna County Judge Trish Corbett heard the other two cases Thursday at the county government headquarters in Scranton. Faraday out in South Abington Twp. supervisor election South Abington Twp. resident Karl Lewis objected to Dean Faraday's candidacy for township supervisor in the Republican primary for a nomination to a six-year term, because Faraday did not file with the township a required financial disclosure statement when he was supposed to have filed it, and instead filed it three days later. That represented a 'fatal and automatic defect' requiring automatic disqualification of the candidacy, attorney Anthony Lomma argued on behalf of Lewis. Township Clerk Susan McLane testified that Faraday filed the form March 14, when it should have been filed by March 11. Corbett said, 'That's a fatal flaw and I will grant the petition' of objection by Lewis to preclude Faraday from getting on the Republican primary ballot. Faraday was not present in court. The decision leaves Giles W. Stanton as the lone candidate in the GOP primary for supervisor in South Abington Twp. No Democrats filed to run for supervisor. Malacaria remains in Scranton City Council election Scranton residents Tim Gilroy and Joan Roskos jointly objected to Frankie Malacaria running in the Democratic primary for a nomination to Scranton City Council for a four-year term, claiming seven of Malacaria's eight election petitions contained numerous deficient signatures. Many of the names were illegible, such that it was impossible to identify the signers. Several of the signers did not live in Scranton, and others were not registered voters or were not registered at the addresses given, according to the objection prepared by attorney Paul Walker on behalf of Gilroy and Roskos. Corbett went through each name that was at issue. She disallowed several that were illegible. Malacaria raised no objection to many of the other signatures at issue and they were also disallowed. He was able to justify some other signatures, such that Walker was satisfied and those were allowed to stand. The end result was 44 of 153 signatures on Malacaria's petitions were disallowed, leaving 109 to stand, which was more than the 100-signature threshold required for him to appear on the primary ballot. 'Congratulations. You're on the ballot,' Corbett said. After the hearing, Malacaria said, 'I'm glad that justice was done.' Malacaria and five other candidates are vying in the primary for three Democratic nominations to appear on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, including incumbent Councilman Tom Schuster, Virgil Argenta, Patrick Flynn, Sean McAndrew and Todd Pousley. McAndrew attended the hearing on the Gilroy/Roskos ballot challenge against Malacaria. Republican Marc Pane is also running for a GOP nomination for council. On Monday, Scranton City Council President Gerald Smurl withdrew as a candidate for reelection, saying a handful of signatures on his nomination petitions were valid but were not witnessed by the petition circulators and that was a problem.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge hears ballot challenge to Bob Bolus candidacy in Republican primary for Scranton mayor
SCRANTON — A hearing Wednesday in Lackawanna County Court on whether to remove Bob Bolus as a candidate for Scranton mayor in the May 20 Republican primary election focused on typographical and procedural errors made in proceedings and potential expungement of his past felony convictions. Lackawanna County Judge Terrence Nealon heard Scranton resident Charlie Spano's challenge to Bolus as a mayoral candidate in the GOP primary. Spano argued Bolus falsely claimed in his candidate affidavit that he is eligible to hold the office of Scranton mayor, but he currently is not eligible because of his past record. Bolus said he is seeking expungement and Spano's case should be tossed on several grounds. Prior cases The challenge filed Friday by Spano is similar to one he successfully pursued against Bolus in his run for mayor in 2021, when a judge bounced Bolus from that ballot and the state Commonwealth Court upheld the removal. At that time, Spano asked the court to strike the candidate petition of Bolus because he claimed in a candidate affidavit he was eligible to hold the office of mayor. Spano argued courts previously ruled Bolus cannot serve as mayor because of a prior felony conviction. Bolus had claimed that even if he could not hold the office, the rulings did not preclude him from running for mayor. Two years earlier, in 2019, Bolus filed nomination papers as an independent candidate for Scranton mayor, a challenge was filed, a judge removed Bolus as a candidate and the state Commonwealth Court upheld that ruling. Expungement issue At Wednesday's hearing, Spano said he has no animus toward Bolus and raises the challenge reluctantly, 'but it seems like its deja vu all over again.' Bolus said he seeks expungement before the swearing in of the next mayor. A person over the age of 70 who hasn't had a conviction in the prior 10 years can seek an expungement. 'With my expungement, which I'm eligible for, I will be able to take the seat,' the 82-year-old Bolus said. Nealon said, 'But it (expungement) hasn't been granted' yet. And Bolus would not even become eligible to seek expungement until mid-January of 2026, because his release from supervision under a 2012 conviction on insurance fraud and attempted theft by deception, both third-degree felonies, ended in mid-January of 2016, Nealon said. Scranton police also charged Bolus, of 1531 Birch St., in August 2022 with trespass, criminal mischief, harassment and other violations regarding knocking down no-trespassing signs put up by neighbors and other actions. In that case, Bolus pleaded guilty on Aug. 15, 2024, to two counts of criminal mischief and was sentenced by Lackawanna County Court Judge Frank Ruggiero to a suspended sentence of 90 days' incarceration and payment of costs of prosecution and $175 in restitution. Bolus seeks to withdraw that guilty plea to be able to secure an expungement. Nealon said once someone is sentenced, 'it is exceedingly more difficult to have that guilty plea withdrawn.' And even if it were withdrawn, the state then could still pursue the prosecution. Typographical error Bolus argued that Spano's reference in his removal petition to being a registered Republican in the year 2021 instead of 2025 was a fatal defect and it should be thrown out. Courts generally do not decide cases based on typographical or procedural errors, Nealon said. Spano testified he made a typographical error regarding the year and that he is currently a registered Republican. Bolus said, 'It's not a typographical error. It's just that he's incompetent in what he's doing.' Spano said, 'People can make typographical mistakes no matter how much experience they have.' Procedural error In Spano's petition filed Friday, Lackawanna County Judge Michael Barrasse issued an order Friday that set a hearing for Wednesday and a deadline of Monday for Bolus to file a response in court. Bolus did not file a response until Tuesday. Nealon said missing a deadline for a response to be filed in the case could be construed as a 'more significant defect' than a typographical error. Adequate notice Legal procedures require a party to be given timely notice of an action against them and informing them of their requirement for a timely response. Spano testified that on Friday at 2:32 p.m. he hand-delivered a copy of his petition and Barrasse's order to Bolus' home on Birch Street, put the documents in a manila envelope and taped it to a door. Spano submitted as exhibits photos of the envelope and of it taped to the door and showing his reflection, as proof he provided to Bolus the required notice and service of the legal action. Bolus said he never received the documents and thus never received adequate notice. The door that Spano referenced was not the main entrance to his home and the steps to the door were blocked with yellow caution tape, Bolus said. Spano said there was no yellow tape there on Friday. Bolus called Spano 'a liar.' Nealon did not immediately rule from the bench but said he would render a decision as quickly as possible because ballots for the primary election would soon have to be printed. For Scranton's four-year mayoral term, incumbent Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and former Scranton School Board President Bob Sheridan will battle for the Democratic nomination, while Bolus and newcomers Trish Beynon and Lynn Labrosky each seek the Republican nomination.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican Charlie Spano aims to get Bob Bolus bumped off GOP primary election ballot for Scranton mayor
Scranton Republican Charlie Spano aims to again get Bob Bolus bumped off a ballot. Spano filed in Lackawanna County Court a challenge to Bolus' seeking the GOP nomination for mayor in the May 20 primary election, arguing Bolus falsely claims in his candidate affidavit that he is eligible to hold the office of Scranton mayor. Spano seeks to have the court void Bolus' election petition because his status as a convicted felon precludes him from holding that office. Lackawanna County Court Judge Terrence Nealon will hear on Wednesday arguments on whether to void Bolus' 2025 nomination petition. Bob Bolus Sr,, candidate for Scranton mayor in May 20, 2025 Republican primary election. (PHOTO SUBMITTED / COURTESY OF BOB BOLUS SR.) For Scranton's four-year mayoral term, incumbent Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and former Scranton School Board President Bob Sheridan will battle for the Democratic nomination, while Bolus and newcomers Trish Beynon and Lynn Labrosky each seek the Republican nomination. The challenge filed Friday by Spano is similar to one he successfully pursued against Bolus in his run for mayor in 2021, when a judge bounced Bolus from that ballot and the state Commonwealth Court upheld the removal. At that time, Spano asked the court to strike the candidate petition of Bolus because he claimed in a candidate affidavit he was eligible to hold the office of mayor. Spano argued courts previously ruled Bolus cannot serve as mayor because of a prior felony conviction. Bolus had claimed that even if he could not hold the office, the rulings did not preclude him from running for mayor. Two years earlier, in 2019, Bolus filed nomination papers as an independent candidate for Scranton mayor, a challenge was filed, a judge removed Bolus as a candidate and the state Commonwealth Court upheld that ruling. In the current challenge, Spano similarly argues Bolus signed a candidate affidavit claiming he is eligible to hold the office of mayor, 'a claim which Bolus knows is completely false, rendering the petitions fatally defective and is a fraud.' Charlie Spano during a debate of candidates for Scranton mayor hosted by the League of Women Voters of Lackawanna County and the Political Science Department at The University of Scranton, at the university on Oct. 15, 2019. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO) Spano's challenge cites various examples of case law on the issue and notes that 'Pennsylvania appellate courts have also held that nomination petitions and affidavits are not mere technicalities, but are necessary to prevent fraud.' In a phone interview Monday, Bolus said he is seeking expungements of his record before the swearing in of the next mayor. 'I'll be there Wednesday and lay out exactly what we're doing (regarding seeking expungement), so I will be able to take the seat because the felonies will no longer exist,' Bolus said.
