A hearing officer, Roland Merkel, for the Kentucky Personnel Board has ruled in favor of Robert Abell's client, Hershel Adkins, in a political favoritism case. The hearing officer recommended that the Board place Hershel in the position for which he was wrongly passed over for promotion retroactive to December 16, 2010. The case involved the impact of political favoritism on the state employee merit system. John Cheves wrote this story for the Lexington Herald-Leader: Democratic Leader's Role In Hiring of State Prison Worker Raises Questions. The Democratic Leader referred to is Hon. Rocky Adkins (D-Sandy Hook), the House Majority Leader.
The Herald-Leader reported:
"Surely political influence tipped the scales here," Abell said. "The merit system is supposed to be based on what you can do and what your relevant experience is. Here you have not one but two independent interview panels that met with the candidates, and they considered Hershel Adkins to be the superior candidate, as did the prison's warden and its deputy warden."
