Court officials have launched an investigation into the complaint, according to Butler County Administrative Judge Charles Pater.
Olivier, who began her job with the county in 2002 as a part-time court reporter, says she has known Sage for 20 years.
In 2003, Olivier said “Judge Sage pursued me to have a relationship with him,” according to the complaint.
The nine-year relationship ended on Dec. 16, 2011, when Sage ended the personal relationship after his wife, who stayed in Florida, returned to Butler County, according to Olivier. And according to her, so did the way she was treated by Sage, and his staff.
Sage’s attorney George Jonson said despite all the complaints in the long document, he alleges Olivier is just upset over the breakup.
“They had an extra-marital relationship. He broke it off and she was unhappy about it,” Jonson said. “I don’t know why that isn’t front and center in the complaint.”
Court reporters are not employees of judges. They report to the Clerk of Courts Office.
Olivier was assigned to Sage’s courtroom full-time in 2007 when the number of court reporters grew and semi long-term assignments were made. At that time, Olivier said the judge referred to her as one of the “Team Sage.” As part of the team, Olivier’s office was located just outside Sage’s courtroom and she was included in office birthday celebrations and parties, according to the complaint.
After the relationship was over, Olivier said she was treated differently. The bailiff and administrative assistant were rude and she was no longer included in gatherings, including the office Christmas party.
“I believe that Judge Sage has abused judicial authority by directing other court employees and others to engage in intimidating and offensive actions toward me and thereby creating a hostile work environment that is so stressful so as to force me to quit,” Olivier said in her complaint.
Sage also suggested she might wish to be assigned to a different courtroom, according to Olivier.
In a letter to Sage dated Jan. 6, Olivier said, “I do not wish to be reassigned to another courtroom as you suggested. Reassigning me to another courtroom would not only be unfair but it would be discriminatory to do so just because you have decided to end the relationship.”
She added, “Any such move would have a detrimental impact not only on my income, but also on my professional reputation and ability to continue to work as a court reporter.”
As the court reporter assigned to Sage’s courtroom, Olivier said she was assigned more trials then any other reporters, averaging 20 a year. That equates to more income because in addition to base pay, court reporters are also paid to prepare transcripts, according to court administrators.
In the past few months, a decision was made to begin rotating court reporters monthly from courtroom to courtroom, said Gary Yates, court administrator. He said in an interview last week, that decision was made because there had been a disparity among court reporters for years when it came to income from transcripts.
“A rotation is more equitable for everyone,” Yates said. According to county comparisons, Olivier was making a third more annually than the others from transcript preparation.
Yates said discussions with the judges about a court reporter rotation began in October and was implemented in February.
“I felt it was a better way to manage the staff,” Yates said. “It wasn’t my intent to create any separation,” Yates said.
Jonson said from what Olivier says in her complaint, “she is not happy with the court reporter rotation. Judge Sage did not participate in that decision. There is no evidence that connects the end of the relationship with the rotation.”
“Upon advice of the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office, I have appointed an independent investigator to determine the truthfulness of the allegations and make recommendations to the court,” Pater said.
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