CLEVELAND — Former Cuyahoga County Chief Transformation and Chief Information Officer Scot Rourke has filed a lawsuit against the county and Executive Armond Budish over months of unpaid leave.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, claims Rourke was told by the county that he would be placed on paid administrative leave amid a probe into potential corruption within Rourke's office. 3News previously reported on Feb. 21, 2018 that Rourke and Budish's general counsel, Emily McNeeley, were placed on paid administrative leave days after the two were named in grand jury subpoenas.
3News followed up with a report April 2, 2018 noting that Rourke and McNeeley would no longer receive pay during the investigation.
“The investigation of two county employees, Scot Rourke and Emily McNeeley, is still continuing, without any determination yet," Budish said in a statement at the time. "At this time, I have made the decision to put them both on unpaid administrative leave. We cannot continue to pay them for not working. If it is later determined that they have done nothing wrong, then we will address their status at that time.”
According to court records, the county changed Rourke's status to unpaid administrative leave March 30, 2018. Rourke was fired Oct. 28, 2019.
Rourke is claiming that Budish and the county improperly kept him on unpaid administrative leave for almost 19 months between March 30, 2018 and Oct. 28, 2019. Rourke alleges that, since he was never charged with a crime, he suffered lost wages and benefits during that time.
A county spokesperson declined to comment.
