This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project - Cleveland, a nonprofit news team covering Ohio’s criminal justice systems.
In April 2023, Georgeanna Semary did something she’d done for 14 years as a top aide to Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze: She fulfilled a reporter’s request for public records.
This time was different. Releasing the court records led to Semary being demoted and losing thousands of dollars in pay, she said.
A lawsuit against Celebrezze and other court officials soon followed.
Semary alleged that the demotion amounted to retaliation and witness intimidation for providing The Marshall Project - Cleveland with billing invoices involving Mark Dottore, Celebrezze’s longtime friend whom she’d repeatedly appointed as receiver to oversee lucrative divorce cases.
This week, the Cuyahoga County Council unanimously approved a $400,000 settlement with Semary. That’s on top of $250,000 the county paid in 2024 to cover outside legal fees.
Subodh Chandra, Semary’s attorney, said in a statement that the money will not undo the harm that Semary experienced. The settlement, however, vindicates the dedicated public servant for doing her job by providing a journalist with access to public records, he said.
The records requested by The Marshall Project - Cleveland were invoices that helped document the nearly $500,000 in fees Dottore and his company earned through appointments from Celebrezze.
“This outcome — paid by the taxpayers because of a judge’s abuse of power — sends a clear message: No official is above the law, and retaliation and intimidation against public servants doing their jobs will not be tolerated,” Chandra wrote in his statement.
Celebrezze did not respond to a request for comment.
Andrew Geronimo, director of Case Western Reserve University’s First Amendment Clinic, said Semary’s settlement speaks to the core of press freedom. Public records belong to the people and journalists rely on them to hold institutions accountable, he said.
“Adverse employment action against someone for facilitating public access to public records violates not only the public employee’s rights, it sends a chilling effect that could deprive the community of the information it needs for meaningful participation in, and oversight of, its government,” Geronimo wrote in a statement.
Semary was hired by Celebrezze in 2008, when the judge first won election, and their friendship evolved over the years. The women often socialized together, according to court records.
Days after Sermary provided the records to the news outlet, Court Administrator James Zak accused her of violating employee ethical codes by releasing the file without his or Celebrezze’s permission, according to her lawsuit. Semary was later reassigned to a scheduler position, records show. She resigned two months later.
Zak did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.
Celebrezze is currently waiting to learn how the Ohio Supreme Court will discipline her for funneling work to Dottore. A state board in August called her actions an extensive pattern of misconduct and recommended a two-year suspension.
One year of the suspension could be eliminated if Celebrezze commits no further misconduct and pays the costs of the proceedings against her, the recommendation stated. Celebrezze’s term ends in January 2027.
The report by the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct states Celebrezze made false statements to fellow judges and state investigators while steering work to Dottore.
She and Dottore have also been the targets of an FBI investigation.
