Michael Geraghty, West Chester resident and former employee for the East Bradford Township Public Works Department, was recently fired. He is now pushing back on the reason, saying that his dismissal resulted from his reports of dangerous decaying tree limbs in the municipality. Nicholas Malfitano had the story for the Pennsylvania Record.

On September 28, Geraghty filed a suit In the Chester County Court of Common Pleas against East Bradford Township and two of his supervisors. On October 27, the suit was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

In the suit, Geraghty claims that it was East Bradford Township’s policy to “…neither ‘see’ or report on dangerous conditions involving trees within the Township.”

One tree limb that Geraghty allegedly reported to his supervisors but was told not to do anything about, fell on a passing truck and injured the driver.

When the driver sued the township, Geraghty gave deposition testimony for him the plaintiff. His role as witness, he claims, led to a hostile work environment that later precipitated emotional distress and his ultimate termination.

In the suit, Geraghty is seeking compensatory damages of over $50,000, along with punitive damages and a trial by jury.

More about the case against the East Bradford Township Public Works Department is in the Pennsylvania Record.