YOUNGSTOWN — An attorney for Youngstown, a deputy law director and an ex-law director requested that a judge dismiss a federal sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit filed by Laura Morway, a former assistant law director who contends she was fired for complaining about a “hostile work environment.”

Sarah Chiappone of the Cleveland law firm of Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder — representing the city, Deputy Law Director Lou D’Apolito and Jeff Limbian, a former law director, in this case — lists 18 defenses in seeking the dismissal of the lawsuit filed Jan. 7 by Morway, who worked for less than five months for the city before her firing. Judge Benita Y. Pearson and Magistrate Carmen E. Henderson of U.S. District Court’s Northern District of Ohio are assigned to the case.

Among the city’s defenses are Morway was “an at-will employee, as a result, any and all claims are barred by the at-will employee doctrine;” actions taken by the defendants were “for legitimate non-discriminatory reasons;” the city has statutory immunity, which gives it immunity from liability in which it is performing a government function; the damages “were solely and proximately caused by plaintiff’s own acts or those of third parties for whom this defendant has no legal responsibility;” Morway “failed to mitigate her damages;” and “punitive damages are unavailable against defendant under state and federal law.”

Morway is seeking at least $75,000 in damages against the city, D’Apolito and Limbian.

Morway worked for the city from May 2, 2022, until Limbian fired her Sept. 30, 2022.

Morway filed a discrimination charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on May 25, 2023, with the EEOC permitting her to sue the city on Oct. 9, 2024. The EEOC granted the permission without making a judgment on the merit of her claims.

In the lawsuit, filed on her behalf by attorney Joseph Frate of Mentor, Morway contends Limbian, D’Apolito and “the other assistant law directors, who were all men, talked down to her, questioned her intelligence and credited the ideas of men over her ideas.”

The lawsuit added: “On several occasions, defendants Limbian and D’Apolito treated plaintiff as if she was intellectually inferior to her male coworkers, questioning and marginalizing her. They did not speak to or question male attorneys in a similar way.”

On another occasion — no date provided in the lawsuit — Limbian and D’Apolito were assigning work to Morway and two of her male peers when D’Apolito announced that the men could give their work directly to Limbian, but Morway “would need to have her work checked first by the men.”

After that, an attorney listed as J.V. in the lawsuit — who would be James Vivo, the first assistant law director — supposedly told Morway that D’Apolito is “a big chauvinist.” Also, the lawsuit states it was “known through the department that defendant D’Apolito treated women unfairly.”

When Limbian hired Morway, she did not have an Ohio license to practice law. She had one from North Carolina and was working to get reciprocity from Ohio. Morway received that on Dec. 21, 2022, according to the Ohio Supreme Court, which meant she wasn’t a licensed attorney in Ohio during her time at the city law department.

Limbian, who resigned in November 2023 as Youngstown law director, fired Morway, the lawsuit contends, a week after he became “hostile and aggressive, speaking to (her) in an inappropriate manner” after she emailed fire Chief Barry Finley regarding a proposed fire department policy change.

On the day Morway was fired, the lawsuit states, she spoke to the city’s human resources director — Marti Kane, who is also a woman — about Limbian and a deputy law director identified as D.D. — which would be former Deputy Law Director Dan Dascenzo — yelling at her a day prior. Kane told Morway she was being treated unfairly, but nothing could be done because “the buck stops with the law department,” according to the lawsuit.

With Kane present, Limbian fired Morway on Sept. 30, 2022, according to the lawsuit.

Limbian, who is currently the Newton Falls law director, said shortly after the lawsuit was filed that “the allegations in this complaint are professionally and personally insulting and repugnant. While I will not comment on the facts of this case, suffice it to say that Ms. Morway was given ample opportunity to demonstrate lawyering skills and abilities and exhibit the appropriate temperament to be a lawyer in a collaborative environment. All of the lawyers in the law department worked extensively to help Ms. Morway find a niche where she could succeed. She failed to take advantage of these efforts.”

Limbian added: “I find this terribly insulting and pathetic. I am confident that the truth will prevail, and this sad and desperate attempt to place blame on others will ultimately be dismissed.”

The lawsuit states Limbian “has demonstrated a pattern of failed oversight and improper treatment of employees within the city’s legal department.”

Before she was hired by Youngstown, Morway worked for the Youngstown office of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, filing two lawsuits and appeals against the agency and two supervisors claiming harassment, retaliation, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act for not receiving overtime pay, infliction of emotional distress, wrongful discharge and that a supervisor had either a propensity toward aggression or an inability to supervise female subordinates. Morway didn’t win the cases or the appeals.