PIKE COUNTY DISPATCH,THURSDAY'MARCH 31' 20'

By Chris JonesMILFORD - Dawn Metzger,

the former Pike Children & YouthServices (CYS) director who losther job after a dispute with formerCommissioner Harry Forbes overa juvenile placement, has vowed tofight on, this time in the Pike CountyCourt of Common Pleas.

On March 16, Metzger's attorney,Sidney L. Gold of Philadelphia, fileda civil action in Milford seeking ajury trial, saying Metzger had been

has a master's degree in public ad-ministration. She had been the CYSdirector from August 2006 until Feb-ruary 2009.

In January 2009, Meager autho-rized that a seven-year-old child whohad struck a teacher and otherwisedisrupted classes be sent to a psychi-atric center for evaluation.

According to the suit, while thechild was en route to the institution,Forbes contacted Metzger and di-rected her "without legal authority"

f{Ietzger Takes Fight For Job,Damages To Pike County Court

harmed by the "re-taliatory employ-ment practices"of the defendant,Pike County.

O n F e b . 2 8 ,a federal judgehad granted PikeC o u n t y ' s m o -tion for summaryjudgment againstMetzger's claimt h a t h e r F i r s tAmendmentrightsunde r t he U .S .Constitution had been violated.

But Judge James M. Munley ofthe U.S. District Court for the MiddleDistrict of Pennsylvania said at thattime that Metzger's claims under thePa. Constitution and the Pa. Whistle-blowerLaw were dismissed "withoutprejudice to bringing such claims tostate court."

The whist leblower case nowmoves to Milford, with Metzger, aMilford resident and native of PikeCounty, seeking to get herjob backat Children & Youth Services, alongwith lost pay and compensatorydamages,

According to the court filing,Metzger, 37, was a Pa.-l icensedsocial worker with the county and

Judge James M. Mun-ley of the U.S. DistrictCourtfor the Middle Dis-trict of Pennsylvania saidon Feb.28 that Metzger'sclaims under the Pa.Constitution and the Pa.Whistleblower Law weredi smi s s e d " w ithout prej u-dice to bringing suchclaims t0 state court."

to return the childto his foster parentsand cancel the eval-uation. Accordingto the civil action,Metzger registeredher opposition toForbes. but com-plied.

Me tzge r com-p l a i n e d a b o u tForbes 'act ions toofficials at the stateDept of Public Wel-fare (DPW), and she

claims that in retribution for that shewas suspended as director of CYSon Jan. 15.

In the federal case, the countysaid Forbes never knew Metzgercomplained to anyone at DPW andthat Metzger's move lacked approvalby the county court and the child'sfoster parents.

Metzger's action in Pike CountyCourt says the county attempted totransfer her to the Pike County Jail asa ffeatment counselor and ultimatelyterminated her from CYS.

She alleges the county's actionsviolated her rights to freedom ofspeech under the Pa. Constitution,Article 1, Section 7.

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