TOLEDO, Ohio — Inappropriate text messages, offensive nicknames and belittling court employees on the record are just a few of the dozens of unprofessional behaviors outlined in an outside investigation into Sandusky County Common Pleas Judge Jon Ickes by the Columbus-based human resources consulting firm Clemans-Nelson & Associates, Inc.
Ickes and his bailiff, Candice Talbot, were subjects of harassment complaints filed by three Sandusky County Courthouse employees in April and May.
As an elected official, Ickes is not subject to discipline by an entity in the courthouse and thus hired Clemans-Nelson as an outside agency to investigate the claims.
11 Investigates learned the complainants filed their grievances with Sandusky County Human Resources, and not the Supreme Court of Ohio's Disciplinary Counsel, which does have the ability to discipline and even disbar judges.
According to documents Ickes shared with 11 Investigates, Clemans-Nelson spoke to several courthouse employees during its investigation in May and compiled two reports for the complaints against Ickes and Talbot, which included the company's findings and recommendations.
The documents paint a picture of a sexualized, inappropriate, offensive and party-like atmosphere, in which there is video footage of court staff "taking part in pranks and other unprofessional conduct."
One complainant documented Ickes referring to employees as "Adult Supervision Specialist (A.S.S.) or Pretrial Intensive Supervision Specialist (P.I.S.S.) and Presentence Investigation Supervision Specialist (P.I.S.S.) on the record."
The same employee said Ickes called her to ask, "If a picture of a penis is called a "D*** Pic, then what is a female version of this?" And "if a woman who chases cops is known as a 'badge bunny,' then what is a woman who chases judges?
Also outlined is an instance in which Ickes apparently grabbed a real gun while trying to shoot an employee with a Nerf gun.
"He has a nerf gun in his desk drawer that he uses to shoot at people. ***** and ***** witnessed him attempt to grab his nerf gun to shoot it at ***** ****** as she was leaving his office, and he grabbed his handgun by mistake and joked about how that would not have been good," a document provided by Sandusky County Human Resources.
The consultant said Talbot said context regarding Ickes was missing from the allegations and that at least one of the complainants was known for playing pranks and using vulgarity around the office herself.
Ickes admitted most of the conduct to the consultant, but felt that one of the complainants, "spun the allegations around to make him sound like a pervert."
In its conclusion regarding Ickes, Clemans-Nelson wrote that he admitted to and did foster a "culture of unprofessionalism and inappropriate work environment."
"As a Judge and as a person in a position of power, there is a responsibility to ensure that this type of behavior in the workplace does not exist, and that employees are free from unwelcome and offensive behavior," the report states. "The biggest problem is that this environment did exist. It should be noted that Consultant did not find that the Judge targeted this inappropriate behavior towards one race, gender, or other protected class but it was simply how he ran his office."
Clemans-Nelson advised that a discriminatory harassment policy be implemented and that "all court staff, including the Judges attend discriminatory harassment training."
Ickes told 11 Investigates on Tuesday that "Some training has been done on my end and the policy/employee handbook is being worked on."
As for Talbot, the consultant recommended, "that the judge consider appropriate disciplinary action as to Ms. Talbot's conduct" and direct her to only have contact with the complainant, "when necessitated by Court operations."
In documents provided to 11 Investigates by Ickes, Talbot completed one hour of training on "Anti-harassment in the workplace" on July 13 and an Employee Warning Notice was added to her personnel file on July 15.
Talbot signed the statement which said, "Candice will engage in workplace harassment training and is directed to have contact with ***** ******** only when necessary for court operations. Candice is to conduct herself professionally in the workplace and treat all judges and fellow employees with respect. Further conduct that does not meet the expectations of the Court will result in additional disciplinary action, up to and including termination."
Judge Ickes emailed 11 Investigates an invoice dated June 30, which showed that the court was billed $5,760 by Clemans-Nelson for the investigation.