Pa.'s Embattled AG Accused of Discrimination —by Twin Sister

Ellen Granahan says Kathleen Kane isn't paying her enough
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 7, 2016 1:19 PM CDT
Pa.'s Embattled AG Accused of Discrimination —by Twin Sister
Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane, center, and her twin sister Ellen Granahan, left, in 2015.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

When you've been accused of illegally firing and demoting state employees and possibly leaking secret grand jury material, it's nice to know you can still count on family to have your back. Oh, never mind. Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane has been accused of wage and gender discrimination by her own twin sister, chief deputy attorney general Ellen Granahan, reports the Morning Call. Granahan claims her $88,500 annual salary is 17% to 37% lower than other chief deputy attorneys general in violation of state and federal labor laws. This despite the fact that the state's child predator section, which Granahan heads, is its most successful, according to the complaint.

Granahan was hired under the previous attorney general in 2008. When twin sister Kane took office in 2013, Granahan was promoted and given a 20% raise, though the Morning Call notes that Kane recused herself from that process and Granahan's salary was considered entry-level for the post. Since then, she nearly had her law license suspended and only personally prosecuted 2% of the cases handled by the child predator section. Her complaint against Kane states she was promised another promotion and retroactive pay increases that never materialized. Kane had until May 12 to respond to the complaint, but neither her office nor Granahan would comment on it. Granahan is in a little bit of legal trouble, herself. She's being sued by an ex-boyfriend for allegedly failing to pay back a $200,000 loan and by her ex-husband, to whom she allegedly still owes more than $40,000 from their 2010 divorce. (Kane, meanwhile, did lose her license to practice law.)

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