the former Governor contacted the hiring manager to provide a character reference. A review by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission found, in 2008, that this had politically tainted the civil service hiring process. After receiving the call from Earl, the hiring manager, Hal Bergan, broke several department rules in the hiring process, including failing to perform reference checks with a previous employer, failing to include members of minority communities in the interview panel, and asking questions which appeared slanted in favor of LaRocque. The hearing examiner ordered the department to pay $346,000 in compensation for two internal candidates who were passed over for the job. For his part, Earl defended his action by stating that his action was not political, but personal, saying, "I've known the family for many, many years. I would not have given him a character reference if I didn't know him well. I was very comfortable doing that." Electoral history Wisconsin Court of Appeals (1985) | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 2, 1985 References |- Politicians from Wausau, Wisconsin People from Madison, Wisconsin Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges Wisconsin lawyers Marquette University Law School alumni New York University School of Law alumni Living people People from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin 1936 births