9 Investigates

9 Investigates: Orange County Clerk of Courts lucrative severance packages questioned

A former top administrator and interim clerk at the Orange County Clerk of Courts could soon find out if they will have to pay a fine over lucrative severance packages that are at the center of an ethics complaint.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The ethics complaints were filed by State Attorney Jeff Ashton in 2013, when his office determined Stephan Carter and Colleen Reilly did nothing criminal.

In 2013, the former general counsel and interim clerk of courts were accused of "threatening" and "coercing" employees to sign off on severance packages padded with vacation and sick time, worth a total of $277,000, even though Carter and Reilly remained on the job as "at-will" employees.

The commission on ethics will determine whether they violated state ethics laws. Both have since returned the money.

According to a report, Carter approached a payroll administrator and instructed her to process payout checks for himself and Reilly per their contracts.

9 Investigates learned that Carter provided the figures for calculating the payouts, wanted his vacation paid out, and told the employee his sick time was authorized to be paid out at 100 percent, even though the clerk's office only pays its employees at 25 percent.

Carter was scheduled to have an administrative hearing Tuesday in front of the commission on ethics but it will now be rescheduled. 
A spokesperson for the commission told 9 Investigates Reilly has not yet entered the administrative hearing process. 

Cox Media Group

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