The continuing tensions inside the Trumbull county commissioners' office are now the subject of a federal lawsuit. 

Christine Glenn, administrative secretary to the commissioners, has filed a lawsuit calling the office a "hostile and abusive work environment."

The suit names the commissioners as a whole and commissioner Niki Frenchko specifically  as defendants. 

Glenn claims in the suit that Frenchko, who was elected in November of 2020, came into office in January of 2021 with a list of employees she wanted removed, alleging that Frenchko told another commssioner she planned to "badger the old ones until they quit." 

The suit does not name which commissioner Frenchko allegedly made this remark to, but Frenchko said this is a quote of an allegation made by commissioner Frank Fuda during a commissioners' meeting. 

Glenn claims in the suit that Frenchko demanded she sync her email to her phone, but that the county's IT department had told Glenn it couldn't be done. Glenn says Frenchko "harassed and abused" her over the matter. 

The suit also claims that Glenn had moved to a separate building as a precaution against Covid-19 due to being at a high risk for serious illness and that Frenchko "tried to move her to another building where she would be working in closer proximity to other people," although the suit does not say whether Glenn was, in fact, ultimately moved. 

Finally, Glenn, who is Italian, made "defamatory and derogatory statements" about Italian people, although the suit does not specify what those alleged remarks may have been. 

The suit claims Frenchko's actions amount to age discrimination and ethnic discrimination and asks for damages in excess of $25,000, along with punitive damages, court costs and attorney fees. 

Frenchko, who learned of the suit when contacted for comment on Friday, called it politically motivated and without merit. 

"This is another baseless complaint that's been dismissed by the OCRC and will be dismissed again. For political reasons, the other commissioners work with the HR director to facilitate complaints and lawsuits for negative headlines when in fact, their behavior is a liability to the county. Our Human Resources director should be mitigating risk. When Fuda's quotes from a commissioners' meeting are being used in a complaint against the county, it's clear there's some collusion," Frenchko said via text. 

Frenchko says that this is not a new matter, and that this has already been dismissed by another agency.

The Ohio Civil Rights Commission had previously ruled that it is "not probable" that Frenchko has engaged in unlawful discriminatory practices.