While a federal investigation into the Lackawanna County's family court system continues, a Moscow man has filed suit against the court, the county, and the woman who runs a legal program that is supposed to look out for the interests of children in custody disputes.
We're not naming the man who brought the suit because it would identify his child, who is the subject of a custody case.
The only individual named in the case is guardian ad litem Danielle Ross, a Scranton attorney. Ross’s job is to represent children in custody disputes, and make recommendations that include custody arrangements, supervised visitations, and home monitoring. Ross's records were subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in September.
The man behind the lawsuit, filed the case Friday. He's seeking an undisclosed amount for damages, and wants to have his legal fees and court costs paid for.
In the suit he said he paid what he called unreasonable fees, more than nine thousand dollars to Ross for her work that sometimes included billing him for her working 11 hour days.
When he asked for a copy of the billing statements he provided an e-mail where Danielle Ross claimed they were deleted once they were paid.
In September, the US prosecutor’s office acting on similar complaints subpoenaed all records for Ross for her work as guardian ad litem since the beginning of 2008.
We tried to reach Ross via phone and e-mail, but she has not responded to our messages.
