The Arkansas Supreme Court building in Little Rock. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
Two days after being sworn in, the Arkansas Supreme Court’s new chief justice attempted to fire several employees of the state court system, which a majority of the court claimed was inappropriate, “unnecessary and unfortunate.”
Five of six associate justices — Rhonda Wood, Barbara Webb, Shawn Womack, Cody Hiland and Nicholas Bronni — issued an administrative order Friday saying Chief Justice Karen Baker did not have the authority to fire 10 Administrative Office of the Courts employees for whom she’d prepared termination letters.
Some AOC employees, including the director, cannot be terminated without approval from at least four of the Supreme Court’s seven members, the five justices stated. Other workers cannot be fired without the AOC director’s approval, which Director Marty Sullivan did not give.
In addition to Baker, Associate Justice Courtney Hudson did not participate in the administrative order.
Baker was sworn in Wednesday after becoming the state’s first elected female chief justice in November. Hiland and Bronni were also sworn in Wednesday as new appointees filling vacant Supreme Court positions, including Baker’s former seat.
On Thursday, Baker “confronted” Sullivan and Supreme Court Chief of Police Pete Hollingsworth “about their responses to Freedom of Information Act requests involving her” and said she was considering firing them, the administrative order states.
Baker could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. Talk Business & Politics reported last month that Baker told Hollingsworth via voicemail that she did not want video footage of her entering Sullivan’s office when he was not present “going around.” Talk Business had requested the footage via FOIA, through which the video was publicly available.
Baker reportedly left Sullivan’s office “disheveled” and harassed AOC staff, and she brought both Hudson and Allison Hatfield with her to the office, though it was unclear whether they entered, according to Talk Business. Hatfield is a former law clerk for Baker and is now the Arkansas Department of Commerce’s chief of staff.
In response, a majority of the Supreme Court created a rule that justices cannot enter a locked office of anyone besides their staff without permission, Arkansas Business reported.
Besides Sullivan and Hollingsworth, the AOC positions Baker attempted to fire Friday and the individuals listed on the AOC website in those positions were:
- Juvenile Justice Division Director Brooke Steen
- Director of Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs Jennifer Jones Taylor
- Director of Judicial Education Vincent O’Brien
- Director of Finance and Administration Sam Kauffman
- Legal Services Division Director Kristin Clark
- Court Information Systems Division Director Tim Holthoff
- Court Information Systems Division Deputy Director
- District Court Staff Attorney
- Administrator of the Commission on Children, Youth, and Families.
“If carried out, those terminations would disrupt the administration of justice across the state of Arkansas,” the court’s order states. “The Chief Justice did not notify — let alone consult — the court before attempting to unilaterally fire these long-tenured court employees.”
Baker declined her fellow justices’ requests to discuss the attempted firings, and she said she had “millions of reasons” for her actions but did not state any specific reasons, the order states.
“When asked about those employees’ families and the fact that they were scared and fearful, the Chief Justice responded by saying that it was ‘good’ for those employees to be scared,” the five justices wrote.
Some of the employees Baker tried to fire have pending human resources complaints against her “from recent incidents,” and the recipient of those complaints is Finance and Administration Director Sam Kauffman, who was among those Baker tried to fire, the order states.
The five justices concluded that Baker’s actions were “retaliatory” and issued an apology to the employees and their families. The order also said any firings on or after Wednesday “in contravention of this order are hereby rescinded, effective immediately,” and failure to comply may result in a citation for contempt of court.
The same five justices contacted the state personnel office within the Department of Transformation and Shared Services on Thursday, asking the office not to remove any AOC employees from the state’s payroll without their terminations coming from Sullivan or the majority of the court, as applicable. Sullivan shared the justices’ letter with the Advocate Friday.
Sullivan has worked for AOC for 23 years. He issued a statement Friday confirming that Baker attempted to fire him and some of his staff “without cause” and that he is working to reinstate any employees who may be under the impression that their termination was official.
“With the utmost respect for the Chief Justice, because no individual Justice has such authority, unless and until I am relieved of service by the Court, I will continue serving as Director of the AOC,” Sullivan wrote. “…My dedication to the impartial administration of justice and the effective management of court operations remains steadfast.”
He provided the Advocate with a letter he sent Baker on Friday, saying her behavior was “reprehensible” and calling his employees “some of the finest public servants I’ve ever had the pleasure to work alongside.”
“Your actions today were disappointing and beneath the dignity of the office,” Sullivan wrote. “Despite the chaos caused today, I will ensure the Administrative Office of the Courts continues to serve the dedicated judges and court staff all across this great state with excellence as always.”
Baker and Hudson have been at odds with the other five justices multiple times in recent months.
In August, Arkansas Business sent AOC a FOIA request for emails between Hudson and Lisa Ballard, the former head of AOC’s Office of Professional Conduct. Ballard and two other employees left OPC in short succession in May. Her personnel file, which was obtained by the Advocate through a FOIA request, did not include a letter of resignation or list a reason for termination.
Hudson sued to block the release of the emails, and the other five justices referred Hudson and her attorney to their respective disciplinary commissions for “flagrant breaches of confidentiality” by filing emails of other justices into evidence in the lawsuit. Baker dissented, saying the other five justices had “a fundamental misunderstanding” of the FOIA and had damaged the Supreme Court’s credibility. Hudson later made the emails public.
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