Just days after asking a federal judge to take over its lawsuit against the administrators of a local Facebook group, Portage Borough is now seeking to send the case back to Cambria County Court.
Last week, Portage Borough and Police Chief David Rosamilia filed a petition in federal court arguing the case belonged there because the Facebook group administrators had filed counterclaims alleging violations of their First Amendment rights and federal civil rights laws.
However, in a new filing Monday, attorneys for the borough and Rosamilia said they agreed to withdraw the removal almost immediately after receiving a letter from the defendants’ attorney challenging the move.
The defendants’ attorney argued that federal law does not allow the original plaintiffs in a lawsuit to remove a case to federal court based solely on counterclaims filed by the defendants.
According to the borough’s filing, the parties now agree the case should be returned to Cambria County Court. The dispute instead centers on whether Portage Borough should be required to pay attorney fees and costs related to the brief removal to federal court.
The Facebook group administrators have sought attorney fees, while attorneys for the borough argue they acted quickly to correct the mistake and should not be required to cover those costs.
The underlying lawsuit began after Portage Borough and Rosamilia sued the administrators over an allegedly anonymous Facebook post that they claimed defamed the police chief.
A federal judge has not yet ruled on the request to send the case back to state court or on the competing requests involving attorney fees.