A Mahoning County employee has been awarded $175,000 to settle a federal lawsuit that says he was wrongly terminated from his county job, according to a release from the law firm that represents him.

Ricky Morrison, who is currently battling cancer, was fired from his county maintenance job in December after being seen sitting with the Republican candidate for commissioner, Gene DiFabio during a board of elections meeting in November 2022.

Morrison felt he lost his job due to retaliation from Commissioners Righetti and David Ditzler, and had his lawyer, Subodh Chandra, issue a letter to the county demanding his client be reinstated or face an unconstitutional termination lawsuit.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova, who was named in the original lawsuit, was dismissed as a defendant after Judge Benita Pearson ruled that there was no evidence that she was involved in Morrison’s firing.