Judge Verne A. Hodge took to the airwaves this week on WVWI Radio One's Topp Talk program to make the case that he was as surprised as anyone else about the controversial lump sum the attorney general says he is owed for unused annual and sick leave.
Hodge, who retired in October as presiding judge of the Territorial Court, said that while he understands that eyebrows have been raised because of the amount involved, he is offended by insinuations that he calculated the amount or requested the payment.
"I did not file any claim and I challenge anyone to show a copy of any claim that I filed for $400,000," Hodge said. He also said he would welcome the chance to negotiate a settlement of the leave amount.
Hodge said all he did was retire at the end of October 1999 and as is the case with any other retiring government employee, the Finance Department submitted a summary of what is documented as being owed to him in the form of sick and annual leave.
"I am very upset about the false implications being made which have acted to attack my integrity," Hodge said.
He said these suggestions have "given indication that I sat down with pen and paper and started to calculate sick leave and annual leave hours for my benefit in a move to rip off the government."
In fact, that is not how the process works.
When a government employee retires, the individual department files a Notice of Personnel Action or appointment document with the Personnel Division, where it is audited and a leave record is prepared. From there the record is sent back to the individual department and, once approved, goes to the Finance Department for payment.
Hodge said he welcomed the review and audit now under way at the request of St. Croix Sen. Anne Golden, and appreciates the awkward fiscal position the government now faces from such a large obligation.
"I think it is legitimate, for example, when the senator calls for the audit," Hodge said. "I have no objection at all. What does upset me is when people think that I schemed to get to this figure."
Hodge said he has "worked too long and too hard for people to get the impression that I am here trying to rip the government off." He said he has recommended to the government that if an error has been made in calculations of the monies owed him, "They should be corrected. I am prepared to deal with that."
The law is clear on the matter of compensation, Hodge said. While lump-sum provisions have been revised in the case of other government employees, he noted, he is part of an original class of judges who a higher court has determined were exempt from any law designed to reduce their benefits.
Hodge said he wouldn’t characterize the raising of this issue as political in nature, preferring to regard it as a consequence of normal reactions by people concerned with the fiscal condition of the government.
Hodge said that while the law prohibits any reduction in a judge’s compensation during his term, it also specifies that this could be done with the judge’s consent. He indicated his willingness to agree to a smaller payout for the accumulated leave.