Lawsuits against Clinton County Sheriff's Office enter settlement talks

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – Several lawsuits filed against the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office have entered settlement talks. Former county corrections employees last year alleged workplace discrimination and sexual harassment.

Now, according to court documents, at least four of the lawsuits have entered into a settlement conference. The details, though, including payout amounts, are still unknown at this time.

Monday, I sat down with Clinton County Sheriff Dave Favro to discuss the pending litigation. He told me he is not part of the negotiations but he doesn’t approve of settlement payouts, saying they do not fix existing or alleged problems.

The county is also gearing up for a trial brought forward by another former corrections employee, Dominique Boulerice. She claims she was assaulted by another deputy and faced workplace retaliation for reporting the incident.

Favro said he wants the department’s story to be presented in court.

“There is clearly two sides to every story and I think we need to be entitled to present that side of the story… and let the determination be what it is… There comes a point in time where you need a little bit of faith in the system, and since I am a big part of the system, I think I need to believe in it and let it work its way through,” Favro said.

A pretrial conference is set for next December with the trial tentatively taking place in March 2025.