Kathleen Kane's twin files complaint about sister's office

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Pennsylvania's embattled attorney general's administration is facing yet another employee complaint - this time from her twin sister.

Attorney General Kathleen Kane's twin has filed a wage and gender discrimination complaint against her sister's office, The Morning Call of Allentown reported.

Ellen Granahan works as a chief deputy attorney general and says her $88,509 salary is 17 to 37 percent lower than what male and female agency lawyers with similar titles earn. She filed the complaint Dec. 30 with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission.

The agency gave Kane's administration until May 12 to respond. It wasn't clear if that happened, and neither Granahan nor Kane's office would comment on it.

Granahan has worked as a state prosecutor since 2008. After Kane was sworn in as attorney general in 2013, Granahan was promoted to chief deputy attorney general of the office's child predator section. Granahan's promotion came with a 20 percent raise, the newspaper reported.

The state Ethics Commission investigated Kane's promotion of her sister, acting on a request by state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler. It found that Granahan's hiring broke no rules, according to records obtained by The Morning Call.

However, the Ethic Commission's chairman, John J. Bolger, wrote to Kane in January 2014 and told her that Granahan's selection created suspicion because Kane's office had not established criteria to fill the vacancy.

Four months after Granahan's promotion, the state Supreme Court threatened to suspend Granahan's law license unless she completed mandated education classes within 30 days, The Morning Call reported. Granahan complied.

Kane, a Democrat who is not running for re-election, faces an August trial on charges that she leaked secret grand jury material, allegations she denies.

___

Information from: The Morning Call