ABA Journal - Law News Now

Legal Ethics

Longtime Ga. Court Official Allegedly Made Sex a Part of His Job

Posted Aug 18, 2008, 03:05 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

Sex in a judge's chambers. Trysts at local hotels during business hours. Obscene phone calls.

Although these activities would seem unlikely to fall within the parameters of a court administrator's job, all allegedly occurred during the 23-year tenure of Howard "Skip" Chesshire at Cobb County Superior Court, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In a written report commissioned by the Georgia court, labor lawyer Mairen Kelly describes what she found in a five-month investigation that cost at least $50,000. It says that Chesshire, who is a former president of the National Association for Court Management, engaged in multiple sexual encounters with three young women he hired to work as interns for the court system, according to these women and other witnesses, the article states.

"Behavior that started with flirting, kisses and hugs graduated to groping, oral sex, encounters at a local hotel and displays of nude photos, including one Chesshire allegedly had on his cellphone, according to the women and other employees who were interviewed," the newspaper writes.

Workers reportedly didn't complain at the time because they were afraid of job repercussions. Judges for the court worked in a different part of the building, the report notes.

Chesshire, 54, resigned earlier this year after allegations of misconduct, and he declined to comment for the article.

The situation is a cautionary tale to other employers about the need for clear policies and training for all workers about how those policies can be enforced, writes court-o-rama.org.

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