Butler County legal bills for Jewish magistrate top $243,000

Jury awarded Kimberly Edelstein $1.1 million after two-week trial.

The legal tab to defend Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Greg Stephens against accusations he discriminated against his former Jewish magistrate topped $243,000 and bills are still coming.

A jury awarded former magistrate Kimberly Edelstein $1.1 million on Feb. 3 after a two-week trial. The Journal-News obtained the legal bills for the six-year battle in federal court and they total $243,728 through 2022. Butler County taxpayers paid the $100,000 deductible and the commissioners’ insurance company, the County Risk Sharing Authority is responsible for the rest.

It has been nearly six years since Edelstein sued Stephens in federal court over allegedly firing her for being Jewish and ruining her career. The trial finally started Jan. 23 and ended with the jury verdict in favor of Edelstein. Bills for various pre-trial motions and the 10-day trial have not yet — CORSA is billed quarterly by attorney Linda Woeber’s law firm Montgomery Jonson — been submitted for payment.

The jury awarded $835,000 in back pay, $250,000 in compensatory damages and $35,000 in punitive damages. Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser told the Journal-News the question of who foots the bill for the judgement — the judge or the county taxpayers — is still under review.

“I expect further proceedings on the issue of the judgement, we don’t have any opinion that can be rendered at this point until those further proceedings, if any, are concluded,” Gmoser said. “There are number of further proceedings that may be developed before that question can be answered.”

After the verdict, Woeber told the Journal-News, “We strongly believe that the evidence didn’t support the verdict and we’re considering options.”

This week she said she can’t share whether they plan to file any post-trial motions or an appeal to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, but her deadline to do so is Friday.

Edelstein has also filed motions in the case seeking $16,289 in costs — like witness fees and transcripts — and attorneys fees from Stephens. Edelstein represented herself throughout most of the protracted proceedings but attorney Paul Croushore represented her for about a month in 2018, and filed an appearance to represent her on Dec. 5. He filed another motion Jan. 13 asking the judge to release him because “the client does not cooperate with counsel.” His fee was $2,024 for work he did in 2018.

The bulk of the legal fees, $121,661, were incurred in 2021 when Edelstein appealed the district court’s decision to drop Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser and Chief Assistant Prosecutor Dan Ferguson from the lawsuit to the 6th Circuit, so there were essentially two lawsuits being defended at once.

Edelstein filed the $1 million lawsuit against Stephens, Gmoser and Ferguson in 2017, claiming Stephens fired her for wanting to take off eight Jewish high holy days and saying the men bad-mouthed her, destroying her career.

Edelstein worked for Stephens after Judge Patricia Oney retired in early 2016. Edelstein told Stephens on July 28, 2016, she would need to take eight days off in October to observe Jewish high holy days.

She said Stephens reacted to her request by yelling, “Holy cow, eight days,” and he appeared to be angry, according to court filings. She was fired four days later.

Stephens says he “terminated Edelstein after months of internal strife between Edelstein and other members of his personal staff, which created a negative and disruptive work environment,” according to court records. In addition, Woeber noted early on Stephens did not fire her because of her religious practices and in fact the magistrate that replaced her was Jewish.

Edelstein said based on depositions taken in the case, Stephens “fabricated” the problems after she accused him of discrimination.

“During the four and a half months that plaintiff worked for Stephens, Stephens never mentioned issues with plaintiff to the court administrator or to the presiding judge,” she wrote in one document. “Furthermore staff at the court attested that she had never witnessed plaintiff acting abusively.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Litkovitz issued a 75-page recommendation five years ago, finding the claims against Gmoser and Ferguson should be dismissed and determining a jury should hear discrimination accusations against the judge.

She said the close time between the vacation request and the termination was suspect, which meant the jury should decide the question. She said Edelstein produced evidence “which would allow a reasonable jury” to find Stephens’ decision “at least in part” was motivated by her request observe Jewish holidays. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Barrett agreed.

Edelstein also claimed Stephens “stigmatized” her with the abrupt firing and made disparaging remarks about her within the legal community, destroying her ability to find another job. On that question, Litkovitz found in favor of Stephens, saying much of Edelstein’s evidence was unsubstantiated hearsay.

Neither Edelstein or Stephens could be reached for comment.

Butler County has also had to pay legal bills for the civil lawsuit against former county auditor Roger Reynolds. The county has reached the $100,000 deductible and now CORSA has taken over payments. The total in the case filed by Gerald Parks now stands at $105,031. Parks claims Reynolds used his office to meddle in development deals. That trial is scheduled to start Oct. 30.

About the Author