In a complaint filed in the S.D.N.Y., Alexis Marquez, a former law clerk in the Manhattan, New York, commercial division, alleges she was subjected to sexual harassment and racial discrimination while working for acting Supreme Court Justice Douglas Hoffman. She also alleges the state court system for reporting abuse is a “fragmented, bewildering, and Kafkaesque gauntlet” that prevents victims from getting relief. The complaint also says that the state court’s policy on harassment was changed after Marquez initially reported the behavior to carve out the complaints that she made.
As Law.com reports, the complaint alleges that Judge Hoffman treated the plaintiff “as a wife, girlfriend, personal companion, and personal assistant” and he became hostile when Marquez wanted a strictly professional relationship:
Marquez claims Hoffman was relentless in his personal questions and conversations with her, suggesting they eat lunch together every day. She claims he talked about past cases involving sexual relations, invited her to imagine them married, told her to sit closer to him, and showed her personal texts and videos.
After she asked him not to contact her on her personal email, Marquez claims Hoffman became hostile, and shouted at her, called her rude and disrespectful, and told her the job would not work if she wanted a strictly professional relationship. She claims the judge threatened to fire her and demanded her silence as a condition of continued employment.
Marquez goes on to note she filed a complaint with HR in November 2017. The complaint alleges after that she was transferred and demoted and her efforts to discuss her issues with Judge Hoffman were rebuffed. After she reported the harassment she also alleges the HR policy on such behavior was altered.
Marquez is represented by Tony Vassilev, who as noted by Law.com, appears to be married to the plaintiff.
While the plaintiff and Judge declined comment, the state court spokesman technically had no comment, but still let their opinion come through:
In an emailed statement, state court spokesman Lucian Chalfen said it remained the court system’s policy not to comment on pending litigation “no matter how frivolous, poorly crafted or nonsensical.” The updating of the state court’s sexual harassment policy had nothing to do with Marquez’s claims, he said.
That’s… some shade right there. And it got a response from Vassilev:
In a statement, Marquez’s attorney Vassilev called the statement by Chalfen “emblematic of the court system’s approach toward its own policies.”
”Chalfen states that it is the court system’s policy not to comment on pending litigation and then proceeds to comment,” Vassilev said. “Unfortunately, the court system’s ‘policies’ are meaningless and broken right now and hopefully this lawsuit can help address that in some way.”
Shots fired.
Law Clerk Alleges Judge Sexually Harassed And Her Treated Her As A ‘Wife’ curated from Above the Law
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