What do you do with the employee who treats co-workers like they’re servants? In the case of a Nevada judge, they’re trying to kick her off the bench.
When HRB had a college internship at a TV station, a news anchor once asked whether he could pick her up a pizza because she was so busy between the two evening newscasts.
Knowing an objection would be a lost cause, the anchor got her pizza via personal intern delivery.
(And she didn’t even tip me!)
Back then, and now, asking interns to run personal errands was generally frowned upon.
If it’s wrong to ask interns, it’s really wrong to use lower-ranking staff as personal valets.
And that brings us to the story of Judge Elizabeth Halverson.
She faces hearings that could end her time on the bench. Some of the accusations involve how she treated other courthouse employees.
Halverson’s former bailiff said she made him feel like a “houseboy.” He said the judge – who is obese and uses a motorized scooter to get around – made him put her shoes on, massage her back, cover her with a blanket for naps and make sure her oxygen tank was filled.
Right now, Halverson is locked out of her courtroom by the chief county judge and suspended from the bench pending the hearing.
She’s also charged with tainting juries and falling asleep on the bench.
Halverson denies the accusations, according to wire service reports.
This case is even more complicated. The chief county judge, Kathy Hardcastle fired Halverson once before when she was a law clerk. Halverson also ran for (and lost) a judgeship against Hardcastle’s husband.
We’ll have to wait and see the outcome of this one.
(In the meantime, where is that intern with my pizza?)