The newly elected treasurer of a small city in western Pennsylvania asserted in a lawsuit Wednesday that city officials plotted to block her from taking office because she is black.
Uniontown Treasurer-elect Antoinette Hodge alleged that a city councilman, Martin Gatti, took action to prevent her from being sworn in as scheduled this week and called her a “colored girl” in a discussion with officials at a bonding agency.
Gatti, a defendant in the lawsuit, has adamantly denied using racist language, saying at a council meeting Monday that he had legitimate questions about Hodge’s financial background.
The federal suit, which also names as defendants the city of Uniontown and its clerk, Kimberly Marshall — Gatti’s sister-in-law — seeks to force the city to seat Hodge and to prevent city officials from interfering with her ability to do the job, Hodge’s lawyer, Joel Sansone, said at a news conference Wednesday. The suit also seeks unspecified money damages.
“We will not allow the raci..