FORMER PURCHASING DIRECTOR CLAIMS THEY WERE AUTHORIZED TO GET EXTRA PAY

The former purchasing director in Westmoreland County says her boss told her they were authorized to get extra pay.  Kristen Coyne made the claim during a preliminary hearing for that boss, Kristopher Cardiff, yesterday.  Both Cardiff and Coyne were fired in October after the county’s Salary Board found that they, along with four clerks, collected an extra 30 minutes of pay each day between August of last year and their suspension this past August.  Cardiff is facing criminal theft charges.  His attorney says he believed the additional wages were authorized based on what he was told by the county’s fiscal director and human resources officer.