Updated December 19, 2020 9:43 a.m. EST
By Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter
Raleigh, N.C. The state Supreme Court censured a judge on the state Court of Appeals this week, saying he hired his high school buddy, then turned a blind eye as the man belittled and sexually harassed law clerks in the office.
Judge Hunter Murphy s conduct wasn t bad enough to warrant suspension or removal from the bench, the state Supreme Court said in an opinion posted Friday, but it did merit censure.
Investigators from the state s Judicial Standards Commission heard from other employees that Ben Tuite, Murphy s assistant, repeatedly made profane and inappropriate comments, encouraged one employee to sabotage a former employee s career, lied, often didn t do his work and at one point got so angry that he slammed his hand down on a table hard enough to activate the attached panic alarm.