Judge Lectures Boss, Bans Him from Communicating With Worker on Jury

An employer's effort to "enlighten" a California judge about the need to delay jury duty for a key employee was to no avail.

In an unusual series of events, Riverside Superior Court Roger Luebs summoned Scott Cullen to his courtroom on Friday and reprimanded the vice president of Anaheim-based PCS Solutions Inc. for pressuring an employee known as Juror No. 10 to try to find a way to avoid serving on a death penalty case, reports the Press-Enterprise.

Luebs also ordered Cullen to have no further contact with the employee during his jury service, which is expected to last about six weeks.

During Friday's courtroom meeting, "Cullen argued that the man was working on a project that was crucial to the company's financial future," the Riverside newspaper reports. "Luebs countered that 'I'm trying a case where a guy's life is on the line. That's important.' "

Cullen later told the Orange County Register he hadn't understood his employee actually had been seated on a jury, and had hoped it would be possible to postpone—and shorten—the worker's jury service. Without him, the company won't be able to complete, and get paid for, a major phone installation project, according to Cullen.

"As the employer, I thought I might be able to enlighten the judge a little bit more, but it didn't work," he says.