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19 March 2024

NY courts spokesman fired after saying he ‘barely’ worked

Published
By AP

The New York state court system’s longtime communications chief was fired Thursday after inadvertently telling a reporter that he “barely” went to work at his $166,000-a-year job.

David Bookstaver’s firing came a day after the New York Post reported he unwittingly dialed a reporter’s voicemail, which captured him conversing with someone else — and acknowledging that he was sloughing off at the office.

“I’m not doing anything. I barely show up to work,” Bookstaver said in a part of the recording the newspaper posted online.

The 58-year-old had been planning to retire in October from his communications director job. Instead, he was terminated, chief court spokesman Lucian Chalfen said.

“While there are occasional abuses of office, we take those abuses extremely seriously, and whenever we learn about them, we will always act to hold the offenders accountable,” Chalfen said. He said it was too early to determine whether any disciplinary action could follow.