Another clerk says Register of Wills Tracey Gordon fired him for not donating to her campaign
A second clerk has accused Philadelphia Register of Wills Tracey Gordon of firing him for refusing to donate to her campaign as she seeks a second term in Tuesday's Democratic primary.
A former clerk fired by Philadelphia Register of Wills Tracey Gordon sued her in federal court Thursday, saying he was terminated for refusing to contribute money to her campaign.
Mark Wilson is the second clerk in two weeks to make that claim in court.
Nicholas Barone, a clerk who worked with Wilson, told a Court of Common Pleas judge on April 27 that Gordon fired him for not giving money to her campaign.
Wilson’s lawsuit includes a sworn affidavit from Thomas Campion, who says he supervised Wilson and Barone and said they “were well liked and worked very hard” and had “no disciplinary concerns.”
Campion also said he is “100% confident” that both men were fired “for not making campaign contributions or donations to or for Gordon.”
Wilson’s lawsuit said he was hired in February 2020 and fired on July 7, when the office’s deputy director of human resources told him Gordon was “going in a different direction.”
Wilson said he had been “heavily pressured” by Gordon and his supervisors to donate to her campaign but refused because he found her “unscrupulous, unfair in her management and discriminatory in many ways.”
“Gordon was seeking 100% participation from anyone and everyone in the Register of Wills,” Wilson’s complaint said.
Gordon, a Democrat seeking a second term in Tuesday’s primary, faces three challengers on the ballot. She reported having $10,600 in her campaign account as of May 1.
John Sabatina Sr., a Northeast Philadelphia ward leader endorsed by the Democratic City Committee in the race, reported having $71,070 in the bank as of May 1. Two other Democrats, Rae K. Hall and Elizabeth Hall Lowe, are also running in the primary.
Malik Boyd, a spokesperson for Gordon, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Wilson’s lawsuit against Gordon and the City of Philadelphia, which was first reported by Philadelphia Magazine.
Boyd in April predicted that Barone’s claims would be “dismissed as unfounded.”
Barone first filed a document citing his intention to sue Gordon as an individual, but not her office, in January. He has still not filed a formal complaint in Common Pleas Court.