Post
#LegalEthics Tidbit: Can a judge order a pay raise for his favorite court staff?
MN court reporters are members of a union and subject to a collective bargaining agreement that determines their salary based on experience. A judge wanted to get a raise for his own court reporter (whose salary was at the low end of the range), and he thought incorrectly he had found a clever loophole by which the reporter could resign and get immediately rehired at ...(cont.)
https://lnkd.in/ek3dc6ri
... a higher salary. When the court administrator didn’t agree, the judge issued a writ of mandamus demanding the court administrator immediately start paying her the highest possible wage under the union agreement. The court of appeals vacated the writ holding that judges lack authority to set the salary of court employees. The judge, ignoring pleas from court staff that he had a conflict and should just stop, ignored the court of appeals and issued a second writ of mandamus ... (cont.)
... demanding the court administrator at least raise the reporters pay to the mid-range of the scale. The court of appeals again vacated the order. The MN Supreme Court stated that it usually doesn’t discipline a judge for rulings, but here the error was egregious because the judge had a clear conflict of interest and never gave the court ... (cont.)
... administrator any actual process. Public reprimand and 9 mos. suspension without pay for this and other misconduct, including presiding over juvenile court remotely while in a moving vehicle on his way to a swim meet.
@dkluft genuinely crazy that this only got a 9mo suspension and not impeachment or disbarring
