A senior Bucks County corrections officer is suing the county alleging he has been subject to ongoing retaliation on the job for seeking federal medical leave protection after he was disabled in a car accident.
Anthony Pekarski alleges that the county corrections department engages in a “pattern and practice” of assigning employees to “less desirable” positions and duties after they use FMLA, Americans with Disability Act.
Bucks County is the lone defendant named in the lawsuit filed Sept. 3 in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, which alleges civil rights and Americans with Disabilities Act violations.
Pekarski,
who has worked as a county corrections officer since 2011, alleges that he suffered a serious ankle injury in a 2018 car accident, which limits his ability to walk and stand, according to the lawsuit.
When he returned to work after the accident, he applied for intermittentFamily Medical Leave,under the federal law that allows eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave through a reduced work schedule for a qualifying medical reason.
The FMLA request was approved to allow Pekarski to take up to three days off, six times a month leave, to rest or receive medical treatment, which he has renewed every six months as required under the law, according to the lawsuit.
But after his leave was approved, Pekarski alleges that he was given “less favorable and more tolling job posts” despite his seniority in the department including working with mentally ill inmates.
The lawsuit alleges that in July 2024 he was assigned an “undesirable, hard to manage post,” where he had to use force for an “out of control inmate.” The incident resulted in his termination, but Pekarski was reinstated after an arbitration hearing, the suit alleges.
When he returned to work in November 2025, Pekarski alleges he was assigned the most undesirable position at the jail, which requires him to walk up and down the grounds, a job that he alleges the department used to force employees to resign.
When he complained he was told an upper management administrator directed that Pekarski be assigned only the worst job duties, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit alleges Pekarski repeatedly requested the county and its human resources department investigate his allegations of retaliatory conduct which he attributed to his use of FMLA leave.
At one point the lawsuit alleges the union representative for the corrections officers told Pekarski to stop filing complaints because the county was going to retaliate against him.
The lawsuit is the most recent involving corrections employees allegations that they were subjected to hostile work environments or wrongful terminations.
Last year Bucks County paid $175,000to settle lawsuits with two former female corrections officers who alleged they experienced sexual discrimination, harassment and abusive behavior at work.
An appeal is pending in the U.S. Third Circuit Court for another former corrections officer who alleged the county violated his First Amendment rights when he was fired for revealing information about chronic jail understaffing to an attorney who sued the county.
A U.S. District Court judge earlier this year dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds evidence showed his speech was not protected.
Crime and Courts Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County corrections officer alleges work retaliation | Exclusive
