Gus Chan / The Marshall Project
Leslie Ann Celebrezze, administrative judge of the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court.
A former assistant to Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze claims in a lawsuit that she was demoted because she knew of the judge’s “scheme” of steering lucrative receivership cases to her “lover.”
The lawsuit, filed this week by court employee Georgeanna Semary, also alleges agents with the FBI’s Cleveland-based public corruption unit have questioned her regarding the judge’s conduct. The FBI requested the interview after The Marshall Project-Cleveland reported her demotion on Aug. 22.
“Ms. Semary is a witness who knows facts about criminal acts,” the lawsuit claims.
Semary’s lawsuit alleges the judge retaliated against her, leading to her $20,000 pay cut after Semary provided public court records to a Marshall Project - Cleveland reporter investigating the judge’s relationship with court-appointed receiver Mark Dottore.
Semary was hired by Celebrezze in 2008, when the judge first won election, and their friendship evolved over the years. The judge confided in Semary her affection for Dottore, whom Celebrezze has known most of her life, the suit alleges.
The Marshall Project - Cleveland has previously reported Dottore has been paid about $500,000 in fees from divorcing couples in Celebrezze’s court.
The 44-page lawsuit was filed this week in Common Pleas Court. She is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
“Once (The Marshall Project - Cleveland) came sniffing around, Celebrezze — blinded by anger and fearing the truth was about to come out — sought to discredit and silence Ms. Semary and send a chilling warning to all court employees to remain silent,” her attorney Subodh Chandra wrote in the lawsuit.
“Other (judges) knew about the affair, Celebrezze’s steering of work to Dottore, and the retaliation. But they failed to try to stop it all. Some even tried to cover it all up. Celebrezze steered cases from other judges to herself in furtherance of her scheme to reward her lover.”
Celebrezze, who serves as the court’s administrative judge, has previously denied an affair, telling The Marshall Project - Cleveland that she and Dottore are merely close friends. She did not respond to messages seeking comment on the lawsuit, which also names four other court officials as defendants. Dottore, who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, also declined to comment.
Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court removed Celebrezze from overseeing a Strongsville couple’s divorce, finding the judge bypassed court policy when she assigned the case to her own docket.
Dottore was appointed receiver in the case and has already collected thousands of dollars in receivership fees to handle the divorcing couple’s personal and business finances.
Originally published by The Marshall Project - Cleveland. Republished here with permission.
