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May 6, 2008
Judge Sued Again for Religious and Sex Discrimination
There's enough here for a TV series:
Walter Connolly Jr., from the employment law firm Connolly, Rodgers & Scharman, has filed a federal sexual and religious lawsuit on behalf of Simone Calvas, a former 19th District Court female employee, against Chief Judge Mark Somers and Court Administrator Gary Dodge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan . . . .
The suit is the third sex and religious discrimination action in 15 months filed against Somers and the court by female employees alleging violations of their constitutional rights, including violations for lack of due process.
Court papers allege that Calvas' nonmarital pregnancy conflicted with Somers' religious beliefs in such a way that he dismissed the probation officer. The suit also alleges Somers sought to have Calvas removed from her position as a part-time dance instructor at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.
The latest complaint against Somers shares a number of commonalities with two other pending suits against the 19th District Court Chief Judge filed last year by former Court Administrator Julie Pucci and Court Clerk Sharon Langen, both of whom are being represented by attorney Joel Sklar. Each complaint labels Somers as a "religious fanatic." . . . .
Somers said his religious beliefs had no bearing on neither Calvas nor Pucci being removed from their positions and that Langen's demotion had nothing to do with her relationship with Pucci. He remains steadfast that Pucci's dismissal came as a result of reorganization within the court, while Calvas' stemmed from her performance and that he chose someone else — Dodge — for that position based on qualifications and performance.
But a press release issued April 25 by Connolly said it was only after Calvas became pregnant and was not married to the father of the twins she bore that Somers terminated he. Connolly went on to say he has never seen this type of employer activity in any of the 110 class-action suits or 400 individual cases he has defended.
Judge Somers, whether the allegations are true or not, this will surely be a primer for you on the law of employment discrimination.
PS
May 6, 2008 in Employment Discrimination | Permalink
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Comments
Here's what Judge Somers has to say-
http://www.somersforjudge.org/
Posted by: Adam Lynch | May 26, 2008 7:19:37 PM
Just so the readers know, this isn't a situation that can be explained in its entirety in one simple posting. For Example, if you look at how the replacement administrator was chosen, it was the FEMALE court administrator for the Michigan Supreme Court that assisted in choosing a qualified person for the position in Dearborn, after it was posted for all person to apply for. It was the Supreme Court that stated that Julie Pucci could not hold that position because of her intimate relationship with another Judge in the court. It was a staggering deficit and lack of ability that lead to the demotion of the previous administrator. In the case of Simone Calvas, the allegation that her pregnancy had anything to do with her dismissal is hard to believe. It was not even common knowledge at the time. It DID have everything to do with her using a Judge's signature stamp to issue bench warrants (which she can't do). It had even more to do with the fact that she had faked scheduled meetings and drug tests with her probationers stating they had been completed when they in fact had not. The decision to remove current administration and re-organize could have something to do with some other choice facts... such as:
- The court was running on a $700,000 (+/-) deficit, costing the city an insurmountable sum when it should have in fact been generating funds for key city services such as its own operational costs, the police, and other various public works. Side note, the courts new administration since Somers has taken office has generated a ~ $700,000 surplus! That is around a $1.4 million dollar swing to the positive!
- The Supreme Court alone decided that Judge Huldgren's girlfriend was not able to take the position as administrator because of her relationship with the Judge, having NOTHING to do with Judge Somers. He only up-held the Supreme Courts ruling of the anti-nepotism policy. There is NOTHING he could have done to even make Huldgren's girlfriend the administrator if he had tried.
- City Cut-backs required ALL city departments cut their budget and costs by 10% across the board. Somers had to HONESTLY look at the way the court was managed and decide that Dearborn, a 3 judge court house, did not need an Administrator, a deputy Administrator, and a executive assistant/secretary to the deputy administrator to run this court. When reviewing other courts in the state of similar court case load and their adminstrative structuring, it just doesn't make sense. It is NOT fair to tax payers for Judge's to create jobs for their friends and girlfriends that the tax payers have to pay for.
It really troubles me that these facts are out there, but MAN ARE THEY HARD TO FIND!!!! It took a great deal of digging for me, but you can get any of these facts from the city of Dearborn strait. Especially the numbers, thankfully all the budgetary and financials are public record. People just want to focus on a negative headline because its just another person to attack and sell papers about. Hopefully this guides anyone interested! I encourage everyone to not just digest what they read, not even this post, without first checking the facts for themselves. You can't trust what you read just because its written.
Posted by: zachary lynch | Jul 13, 2008 1:24:54 AM
