Thursday, August 21, 2014

Sexually-Charged Comments Land Allen County Superior Court Judge In Hot Water

Allen County Superior Court Judge Stanley Levine now probably wishes he had never attended that special going away party for the court's long-time executive, Jerry Noble, and two members of the court's staff last Friday evening. According to the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Judge Levine spoke in front of a packed courtroom gathered for the occasion and suggested one of the women retiring from the court could have "a lucrative second career as a phone-sex operator." He went on to say that her husband probably wouldn't object once he saw how much money she could make before belching out an a capella rendition of "I'll Be Seeing You."

The Journal-Gazette's Rebecca Greene reports that "[o]ther than a few head shakes and dropped jaws, no one said anything or noticeably reacted to Levine's comments." That had all changed, however, by Monday morning when the court's chief judge, Judge Wendy Davis, began fielding complaints from people throughout the courthouse building. Judge Levine must have picked up on the bad vibes because he quickly released an apology for his "extremely tasteless" comments:
First of all, I wanted to state that I have made a sincere and heartfelt apology to the woman about whom I made inappropriate remarks by talking to her personally, and she has accepted my apology,” he said Wednesday. “I have also apologized to the judges that I have talked with, and I apologize … anyone else who heard what I said; and also to the public.
I have always conducted my private and public life without demeaning or mistreating any women with whom I worked or employed or interacted in any manner. Therefore, with the benefit of hindsight, it is hard to believe what came out of my mouth, but it did,” he said.
What I quite mistakenly meant to be humorous was in truth extremely tasteless. I am, to say the least, deeply troubled by what I said, and I deeply regret having said it. No one in this world is perfect, least of all me. Since that is abundantly clear, I am truly sorry.
The Allen Co. Board of judges sent out an e-mail to all court staff on Wednesday agreeing that Levine's comments were inappropriate and reminded court staff of their policies against sexual harassment and procedures for reporting and investigating such complaints. The report says it is unclear whether Judge Levine will face disciplinary action by the Supreme Court. Complaints and allegations made to the Judicial Qualifications Commission are not made public. Unless public disciplinary action is taken against Judge Levine in the future, the public would never know if the Supreme Court had considered the matter.

4 comments:

Flogger said...

I have worked in Private Industry most of my Work Career for Large Corporations. I am fairly certain Stanley Levine's remark would have resulted in his termination these days, especially coming from a Senior Official. I know of situations where people were terminated for racist remarks and sexist remarks (They were supposedly jokes).

A vigorous investigation should be made to determine if these comments are representative of an established attitude on Levine's part.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness...was Anita Hill his law clerk? -Geeezzzz

Anonymous said...

I have had occasion to have had several cases with Judge Levine
in the past.

While such bad jokes are inappropriate, as is most "gossip", one has to be extra careful when speaking when someone in the audience may potentially take offense.




Anonymous said...

I have had personal remarks made to me by this man when he was an attorney...he made similar inuindoes about me because my first name is Mary....reminded him of another woman with "the same first name of Mary whom slept around." He made this comment to my attorney about this attorney's ex wife. Trying to get my attorney to relate to his client??! What was it Judge Levine? I always wanted to know.

Surprise by the current remarks? Obsultely not! Maybe now what "what goes around, might finally come around." Maybe now you will be held accountable.