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HAMILTON — A Reynoldsburg attorney investigating a harassment and retaliation complaint filed against Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Sage and other officials by a court reporter after the judge broke off their extra-marital relationship is in the county conducting interviews.
Common pleas administrative Judge Charles Pater said Scott Warrick was in the county Friday and again this week to conduct the investigation.
When the probe will completed is not yet known, but Pater said he does not want the matter to “linger.”
Warrick is a specialist in labor and human resources given the duty of investigating a 13-page internal complaint filed by Jennifer Olivier last month.
Pater said Warrick was appointed because he has no ties to the court or the county. In the complaint, Olivier, 44, said Sage pursued a personal relationship with her in 2003, a year after she became a county court reporter. In 2007, when the number of case and court reporters grew, she was assigned as Sage’s full-time court reporter.
Olivier said she often performed duties that included planning special events, helping plan Sage’s father’s funeral, attending luncheons at Miami University and preparing gift bags for attendees of events hosted by Sage.
Sage’s attorney George Jonson said the judge will not be stepping down from the bench based on the complaint.
Court reporters report to the court administrator Gary Yates.
Olivier said Sage ended the nine-year relationship in December.
After the breakup, Olivier said Sage’s bailiff and judicial assistant were rude to her and she was no longer included in office gatherings.
She said she also learned of a plan to begin rotating court reporters, meaning she would no longer be assigned for Sage’s courtroom. Olivier said Sage had suggested she might wish to be assigned to a different courtroom
Yates said talks about rotation of the five court reporters began in October and was a plan he had considered for several years. Yates said in an interview last month that decision was made because there had been a disparity among court reporters for years when it came to income from transcripts.
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