Appeals judge absent from work 13 months agrees to voluntary unpaid suspension
A Texas appeals court judge who hasn’t been at work for 13 months has announced a plan to take an unpaid six-month suspension.
After Justice David Lewis of the Dallas-based Fifth Court of Appeals was asked to comment for a news story, he and his lawyers said he was temporarily stepping down, without pay, WFAA reports.
His unpaid absence is pursuant to an agreement with the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct to serve a suspension of at least six months, the station reports. Lewis, a Republican, was elected to a seat on the Fifth Court of Appeals in 2012 and has been earning over $161,000 annually.
The Dallas Morning News (sub. req.) says the suspension will be unpaid, and follows an extensive medical leave because of his diabetes, which was aggravated by alcoholism.
At no time has there been any allegation that Lewis was under the influence of alcohol while on the job, his lawyers say.
“His voluntary agreement to stand down for a period is a consequence of an unfortunate period in his life that included the abuse of alcohol,” says a written statement provided to the newspaper by attorneys Perry Minton and Zooey Wharton.
The state supreme court must still approve the resolution of the matter. Executive director Seana Willing of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct told the newspaper the suspension is “an interim disciplinary action” and said Lewis may ask the court to lift a suspension order after six months, if he has obtained medical clearance to go back to work.
