Want to get a pay rise for minimal work ethic? It could be worth becoming a judge in New York state.
Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio received a US$11,700 pay increase despite only turning up for work once in the last 216 days, Newsweek reported.
The salary increase was given to all city court judges in the state, outside of New York City.
Ms Astacio was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2016 and assigned to the equivalent of a desk duty job while completing a three-year probation sentence.
Yet with the exception of a single day in February, the judge has been absent from work since August 31 last year.
Newsweek said since her arrest Ms Astacio had violated her probation multiple times and was even taken back to custody when she refused to wear her ankle monitor.
Now as a result of her pay rise, a petition on Change.org has seen 30,000 people call for her removal from office.
Ms Astacio has responded to the backlash on her Facebook account, saying she was frustrated with the harassment she was receiving in light of the rise.
"You're mad because I'm a young minority getting paid. I don't want to hear about it," she said in a Facebook Live post.
"What makes you feel so entitled to say these things that you would never ever say to another elected official, or about any other elected official publicly, without fear of retribution, arrest, you know, horrible things happening to you?"
New York State Supreme Court Justice Craig Doran said Ms Astacio was in fact still required to show up for work.
"Our administrative view is that she continues to be under an obligation to appear for her assigned work duty," Mr Coran told Newsweek.
A judicial body which takes complaints against judges was aware of the situation, Newsweek said.
Newshub.
