A federal jury Friday awarded former Lorain County Coroner Dr. Paul Matus nearly $1.4 million in a lawsuit over his 2013 firing as medical director of the county’s General Health District.

David Cuppage, one of Matus’ lawyers, said that the jury verdict confirmed their contention that the health district breached its contract with Matus and retaliated against him for defending himself against sexual harassment allegations that were later determined to be unfounded.

“It means that Dr. Matus has been vindicated,” Cuppage said. “I think his reputation is restored.”

Matus had not sought to return to his old job as medical director, a position he had kept after resigning as county coroner in 2011, as part of the lawsuit, Cuppage said.

Health Commissioner Dave Covell that the health district has accepted the verdict, although any decision on whether to appeal will be up to the agency’s insurance company, which also will pay out the money awarded to Matus.

“That’s why we have a legal system. That’s why we have contracts,” Covell said. “We’re happy to have it behind us so Dr. Matus can move on and we can move on.”

Covell’s predecessor as health commissioner, Ken Pearce, initiated the sexual harassment investigation into Matus in August 2012 after a female employee told him that Matus had sat too close to her and made comments that made her uncomfortable while she was giving him training on how to use a website.

The employee told Pearce that she didn’t want to pursue the matter, but Pearce later said he felt compelled to report it to prosecutors for review.

Matus, who wasn’t told of the investigation until much later, has argued that Pearce pushed the matter because Matus had opposed his plans to retire and then be rehired as health commissioner, a practice known as a “double-dipping.”

Although that idea was discussed, Pearce only returned to the health district as a consultant and Covell was ultimately hired to take over as health commissioner.

The investigation into Matus concluded that he hadn’t sexually harassed the woman, but he became concerned about the rumors about the probe and how he was being treated by other employees at the health district.

Those concerns led to him contacting the ex-husband of the woman who made the initial complaint, something that the health district board later determined to be interference in the investigation. He also allegedly made derogatory comments about female employees he blamed for the investigation and argued with health district officials while discussing the investigation.

Matus refused a January 2013 request to resign and was fired in April after a third party upheld some of the findings against him.

The lawsuit, filed a day after Matus was fired, accused the health board of violating the terms of its contract with Matus among other things.

Additional portions of the lawsuit, including allegations that Matus’ free speech rights were violated by the health board and that he was the victim of age discrimination, were thrown out earlier this year by U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent, who presided over the trial, which began last week.