Court OKs Lawsuit Against Center, Dispatchers

A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit brought by the family of a murdered man against the Allegheny County (Penn.) comm center and several dispatchers, claiming they took no action to warn the victim that a co-worker was dangerous. Michael Michalski was a dispatcher back in 2003 when he killed his ex-girlfriend Gretchen Federbar, her sister and her new boyfriend Mark Phillips. The Phillips family sued, but the case was originally dismissed on a filing technicality. Michalski is serving a life sentence. According to testimony, Michalski was fired for unauthorized use of computer files, and shortly afterwards telephoned at least two dispatchers with a threat against Ferderbar. Download (pdf) some of the court documents:

• the original complaint
• the amended complaint
• the court’s original Order
• the court’s Memorandum on its decision
• the court’s final Order