Philly has now paid 3 staffers who said the ex-register of wills fired them for not supporting her campaign

Tracey Gordon left elected office in January after a single term as the city’s register of wills, but taxpayers are still footing the bill to settle lawsuits alleging that she tried to turn her office into an arm of her failed reelection campaign.

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

City lawyers 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 latest settlement was first reported Wednesday by Axios. The city has also agreed to pay mediation costs in the Wilson case. (A spokesperson for the city’s Law Department could not immediately provide that amount on Thursday.)

Gordon did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.

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

Wilson alleged he had been “heavily pressured” by Gordon and his supervisors to donate to her campaign, but had refused because he found her “unscrupulous, unfair in her management and discriminatory in many ways,” according to his May 2023 lawsuit.

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

Gordon was elected as register of wills in November 2019 after she defeated 40-year incumbent Ron Donatucci in the May Democratic primary. The office is responsible for receiving wills for probate; maintaining wills and estate records; collecting inheritance taxes; and issuing marriage licenses.

Former Gordon employees say they faced intense pressure to support her politically.

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

In April 2023, Gordon’s then-spokesperson 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 her campaign was one of the reasons he was fired after Gordon lost in the May 2023 Democratic primary.

“Gordon insisted that employees of the office support her reelection candidacy publicly, vote for her candidacy, contribute monetarily to her reelection campaign, and not remain noncommittal or uninvolved in the reelection process,” Boyd’s complaint stated.

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

Boyd’s case was later settled for $35,000. A similar case filed by Wilson’s former supervisor, Thomas Campion, was settled for $90,000. He had said she’d created “immense pressure forcing employees to donate to her campaign” and would scream at him when he did not 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 deputy in the office.

Parkinson, a Northeast Philly Democratic ward leader, alleged that Gordon “continually and relentlessly badgered” him for campaign donations in 2021 and 2022. But he said in his suit that he didn’t want to be associated with the campaign because he considered Gordon “ruthless, corrupt, unethical, incompetent” and said she “acted in an illegal manner.”

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

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

Five former Gordon employees are alleging that Sabatina violated their civil rights by terminating them shortly after he took office in January. They say their 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 that lawsuit.