DEARBORN — Judge William Hultgren of the 19th District Court
testified last Thursday in a trial over whether or not former Dearborn
probation officer Simone Calvas’ civil rights were violated when she was fired
by the court’s chief judge Mark Somers in fall 2007, according to a report in
the Detroit Free Press.

The lawsuit, filed by Calvas in 2009, says that she also
faced work harassment in 2007 after she announced she was pregnant by her
boyfriend during a divorce situation.

Hultgren said he would often assign defendants sentenced to
probation to Calvas because of her reliability and skill as an employee in that
role. In 2007 her ex-husband presented several probation files from the court
that were in Calvas’ home to a divorce judge; court policy prohibits employees
from taking files from the building. The files were later returned to 19th
District Court and Somers said the incident was a factor in Calvas’ termination
of employment.

Calvas denied taking the files and the lawsuit claimed none
were in her home after a police search.

Hultgren’s fiancee, Julie Pucci, a former Dearborn deputy
court administrator, testified last week that she received a call from Calvas’
ex-husband in late 2006 saying he had hundreds of court files in his
possession, according to the Free Press.

The current lawsuit against the court and Somers is one of
three discrimination suits that have been filed. Pucci and former court
administrator Sharon Langen filed lawsuits in federal court in 2007; both are
still pending.