After Two Years on Paid Leave, Cuyahoga County Corrections Lieutenant Fired Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations

The Cuyahoga County Justice Center in an undated photo. Credit: Tim Evanson

On March 31, 2023, George Hughes, a corrections lieutenant at the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department, was put on paid leave pending an internal investigation into allegations that he groped a subordinate officer at a bar in Lakewood.

More than two years later, Hughes was still on the county’s payroll in early May, having earned roughly $194,000 during his paid leave while the investigations by the Cleveland police department and the Sheriff’s Department Internal Affairs Unit dragged on.

Those finally wrapped up, the county announced, and he was finally fired on May 9.

“After a careful review of all information available,” a letter from HR sent to Hughes last week read, “it was found that you initiated and/or engaged in inappropriate, sexually-suggestive communications with several female correction officers, including while on duty, and at an offsite social gathering.”

Hughes, in short, abused his position as a superior, three ranks above the women who accused him, HR Director Amy Marguit Renwald said.

“The county requires that all employees perform their duties in a professional manner,” Renwald wrote in the letter, “and conduct themselves in a way that advances the goals of the county and increases public confidence in county government.”

According to Cleveland.com, the woman who filed the original complaint against Hughes attended a series of HR events intending to shed a light on sexual harassment, encouraging victims to “fight back.”

The county is “committed to fostering a culture where every employee feels safe, heard and supported,” a county spokesperson told the publication. “Harassment of any kind has no place in our workplaces.”

Hughes will still receive medical benefits for a certain amount of time.