Whistleblower Exposes Employee Wife Hiring Swap

Debra Halbrook, a former Wake County Superior Court victim witness legal assistant, claims she was fired when she reported concerns that the district attorney was mishandling payroll records. In the complaint, Halbrook’s lawyers detail what they call the “Bradsher-Blitzer ‘Hire My Wife’ Scheme.’” Initially, Caswell County District Attorney Wallace Bradsher and Rockingham County District Attorney Craig Blitzer each hired their own wives to work for them. Both women were listed as full-time employees earning more than $46,000 in annual salaries. But in January 2015 the DAs swapped employee/wives. The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts has stated that judicial branch supervisors cannot hire their own spouses. Halbrook reported the scheme, and says she was fired after Bradsher caught on that she was assisting in an investigation. She has sued for lost back pay, lost future earnings, lost health and retirement benefits, as well as punitive damages and triple damages allowed under the state’s Whistleblower Act.