Philly now pays 3 employees who said ex-registry of wills fired them for not supporting his campaign

Tracey Gordon left elected office in January after just one term as the city’s register of wills, but taxpayers are still footing the bill to settle lawsuits alleging she tried to turn her position into an arm of his failed re-election campaign.

The most recent settlement was reached last week with Gordon’s former secretary, Mark Wilson, who said in a federal lawsuit filed last year that he was fired because he refused to contribute money to his campaign .

Attorneys for the city agreed last week to pay $155,000 to settle Wilson’s case. That brings the total tab to $280,000 to settle three of five similar lawsuits filed by former Gordon employees.

The settlements were first reported Wednesday by Axios. The city has also agreed to pay mediation costs in the Wilson case. (A spokesman for the city’s Law Department could not immediately provide that amount Thursday.)

Gordon did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

» READ MORE: A fifth employee says Register of Wills Tracey Gordon solicited campaign money

Wilson alleged that Gordon and his supervisors had been “heavily pressured” to donate to his campaign, but had refused because he found it “unscrupulous, unfair in its management and discriminatory in many respects”. according to its May 2023 demand.

“Gordon sought 100% participation from anyone in the Registry of Wills,” Wilson’s complaint said. He was fired in July 2022.

Gordon was elected register of wills in November 2019 after defeating 40-year incumbent Ron Donatucci in the May Democratic primary. The office is responsible for receiving wills by probate; maintain wills and estate records; collect inheritance taxes; and issuance of marriage licenses.

Gordon’s former employees say they faced intense pressure to give him political support.

Nicholas Barone, a former secretary, said in April 2023 that he was fired for not giving money to his campaign, and later sued Gordon in federal court. The case is ongoing.

In April 2023, Gordon’s then-spokesman Malik Boyd told The Inquirer that he believed Barone’s claims would be “dismissed as unfounded.”

Boyd, however, filed his own lawsuit six months later, alleging that his refusal to donate to his campaign was one of the reasons he was fired after Gordon lost the Democratic primary in May 2023.

“Gordon insisted that employees in the office publicly support his re-election bid, vote for his candidacy, contribute financially to his re-election campaign and not remain disengaged or involved in the re-election process” , Boyd’s complaint stated.

» READ MORE: Tracey Gordon had a long tenure as Register of Wills. So why is he running for Congress?

Boyd’s case was later settled for $35,000. A similar case brought by Wilson’s former supervisor, Thomas Campion, was settled for $90,000. He had said he had created “immense pressure that forced employees to donate to his campaign” and would yell at him when he didn’t contribute.

In addition to Barone’s case, the other open lawsuit from Gordon’s tenure was filed last year by Patrick Parkinson, a former administrative assistant in the office.

Parkinson, a Democratic leader in Northeast Philly, alleged that Gordon “pursued him continuously and relentlessly” for campaign donations in 2021 and 2022. But he said in his lawsuit that he did not want to be associated with the campaign because he considered Gordon “ruthless, corrupt, unethical, incompetent” and said he “acted in an illegal manner”.

Gordon ran unsuccessfully for Congress this year against U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans.

The current registrar of wills is John Sabatina, an estate attorney and House Democratic leader who defeated Gordon in last year’s primary. He is also being sued in federal court.

Five former Gordon employees allege Sabatina violated their civil rights by firing them shortly after he took office in January. They say his race and political affiliation played a role in Sabatina’s decision. One of the plaintiffs identifies as Arab and the other four identify as black. None directly supported Sabatina’s 2023 campaign.

Sabatina’s office has declined to comment on the lawsuit.