Officer fired from jail wins verdict of $896,000 against Allegheny County

A former Allegheny County Jail officer won an $896,000 federal court jury verdict against the county Thursday night on his claim that he was fired because the warden thought he was too old and was taking too much time off under the Family Medical Leave Act.

Walter Mikulan, 62, of Hampton, a major at the jail until he was fired in August 2013, said he was a victim of a house-cleaning effort by Warden Orlando Harper that targeted older employees.

He was 58, with nearly 30 years of experience, when he said Mr. Harper told him he could resign or be fired. He refused to step down and was dismissed.

At the time he said in the media that jail officials were trying to get rid of the older employees and threatened legal action.

“I think this is disgraceful,” he said. “I think this guy [Harper] is going to be stopped. And Allegheny County is going to be held liable if they don’t do anything about it.”

Mr. Mikulan on Friday thanked the jury for its decision and his lawyer for taking the case.

He said he was fired on a pretense of violating minor rules for paperwork issues, such as a subordinate not filling out a sicktime slip, when the real reason was his age and Mr. Harper’s anger at him for taking leave time to deal with work-related stress.

“They’ve done it to other employees besides me,” he said Friday. “It’s not just me and it’s not just the money. It’s the principle. They violated my civil rights and they’ve done it to others.”

His lawyer, Tim O’Brien, said the award will end up being higher once full damages and other costs are calculated by U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Reed Eddy.

“We expect that the verdict will be a million and a half,” he said.

The county will pay the bill, which includes amounts for lost wages and $325,000 in compensatory damages. County officials had no comment beyond a statement issued by county Solicitor Andrew Szefi saying the law department will appeal.

“We thank the jury for their service and thoughtful deliberation in this case but disagree with the verdict,” he said.

The trial began Monday and the jury returned a verdict about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, saying the

Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette Attorney Tim O’Brien looks over the plaque of medals that was awarded to Walter Mikulan, background, a former Allegheny County Jail major, Friday at Mr. O’Brien’s offices Downtown. Mr. Mikulan was fired in 2013 at age 58 and won the verdict on Thursday.