Former Montco employee sues county, alleges it violated ADA, committed ‘fraud’ and hid ‘financial mismanagement’

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A former Montgomery County employee is suing the county for allegedly not accommodating his disabilities. Anthony Olivieri, the former chief information officer, is also claiming that county officials “engaged in fraud, waste, wrongdoing and/or financial mismanagement concealment.”

In a statement through spokesperson Megan Alt, the county said it would not  comment on Olivieri’s claims.

“Montgomery County is steadfast in our commitment to fiscal responsibility and integrity,” the statement reads. “We do not comment on personnel matters or ongoing litigation.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported about the lawsuit.

According to court documents, Olivieri was allegedly suffering from “anxiety, panic and depression complications” and took medical leave from November 2024 through early January 2025.

When he returned to work, Olivieri claims he notified county management that his health conditions were in part because of “mistreatment at work.” He also asked “for accommodation to not be subject to abusive behavior or mistreatment to avoid further complicating his ongoing health treatment,” the lawsuit reads.

However, Olivieri claims that he was subjected to a hostile work environment for the next six months, where county employees left him out of regular communications and initiatives. He was fired on July 9. According to the lawsuit, the county claimed that he was terminated “on account of alleged performance problems” when he sought unemployment benefits.

Olivieri also claims in court filings that the county engaged in financial mismanagement and fraudulent schemes.

The lawsuit claims that in 2017, then-Capital Projects Program Director Tom Bonner was “primarily responsible” for the loss of $500,000 in funds that had been allocated to the Justice Center Project, a large-scale redevelopment of the county courthouse.

“An improper wire of such funds had been made to an imposter,” the lawsuit reads. “[Montgomery County], through leadership, undertook measures to conceal the loss and engage in non-disclosure to avoid embarrassment (which is both wrongdoing and waste).”

In addition, Olivieri claims that the county awarded a contract to install a new wireless internet network to ePlus, which was where Dean Dortone, the county’s chief financial officer, had been employed for roughly five years. The lawsuit alleges that the county awarded the contract despite the fact that another bidder, Pomeroy Technologies LLC, “offered the best technology solution(s).”

“Dortone also didn’t recuse himself from ePlus involvement, as would be required for the clear conflict of interest,” the lawsuit reads. “Instead – – Dortone had conspired, coordinated, and facilitated the sharing of everything submitted by Pomeroy (including its proprietary bid) to [the county] to enable ePlus to create what optically would appear as if to be a more competitive bid.”

According to Alt, the county spokesperson, the last time Dortone worked for Pomeroy Technologies was in 2002.

Olivieri claims the county wrongly advertised $1 million in savings to taxpayers by claiming to have consolidated its printing services.

The former chief information officer is pledging to outline more instances of fraud in court as well. Olivieri claims that the county engaged in “bid-splitting to avoid legal compliance with [request for proposal] requirements” and “did not follow RFP requirements with respect to other RFPs being utilized for vendors.”

In addition to the lawsuit’s claims that the county violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Family and Medical Leave Act, Oliveri says the county also violated the state’s Whistleblower Law. The lawsuit says that he brought up issues of “fraud” and “waste” to county management while he was an employee, but was subjected to a hostile work environment and fired for doing so.