HARRISBURG — Republicans who control the Pennsylvania Senate sued Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday over his firing of his predecessor's appointee as head of the state Office of Open Records, adding fuel to a partisan clash during the new chief executive's first week in office.

The lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court contends that Erik Arneson, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's appointee and a petitioner in the lawsuit, is entitled to serve a full six-year term and that Wolf terminated him without cause in “an unlawful power grab.”

The suit seeks to restore Arneson as the agency's executive director, including back pay and benefits, and declarations that Wolf violated the state Right-to-Know Law and the state constitution.

An initial hearing was scheduled for Feb. 3.

Arneson was appointed one week before Wolf was sworn in as governor on Jan. 20. Wolf ousted him Thursday and named the agency's deputy director, Nathan Byerly, as acting chief pending a national search for a full-time director.

Wolf has defended his action by saying Corbett's eleventh-hour appointment lacked transparency. He also contends the open-records director serves at the will of the governor, citing a 2008 hiring letter sent to the agency's original director, Terry Mutchler, that advised her she could be fired for any reason or none at all.

“As a public servant I strive to promote democracy and change the culture in Harrisburg. I will continue to fight for the integrity of the Office of Open Records. Today's lawsuit does nothing to alter my conviction,” he said Monday.

Along with the governor, the lawsuit named the Department of Community and Economic Development and within it, the Office of Open Records as respondents in the case.