Delaney's wages would have been garnished over debt

If Bob Delaney hadn’t resigned as St. Clair County clerk on June 19, the county would have started deducting $554.42 from his pay every two weeks due to a bad debt.

The county’s human resources department calculated the amount last month, in response to an interrogatory from Commerce Bank.

The bank had obtained judgment against Delaney last year for more than $80,000.

Commerce sued Delaney and wife Janet in 2011, claiming they owed $59,342.97 on a promissory note.

Later that year, the bank and the Delaneys filed a “consent judgment” of $80,101.78 in principal, interest and legal fees.

Despite its title, the document didn’t bear the signature of a judge.

The county calculated the $554.42 deduction by multiplying Delaney’s pay of $3,696.11 every two weeks by 15 percent. Delaney earned $96,098.96 annually.

The bank’s interrogatory was served on a payroll clerk on June 13.

On June 19, Delaney announced his resignation.

The department filed the interrogatory twice, on June 17 and again on June 20 indicating Delaney was no longer being paid.

Delaney, who had served as county clerk since 1999, resigned following a report based on an investigation by an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission officer, who wrote that Delaney drank on the job, made racial slurs and instilled fear in his employees.

The investigation was prompted by the firing of deputy clerk Laura Romero on May 15. She sued the following day.

Delaney has said the allegations made by the clerk in the lawsuit are “bogus” and that there was nothing in the investigator’s report that would substantiate the fired worker’s claims.