NY judge accused of making racist, anti-gay remarks in court – New York Post
A New York judge allegedly made vile bigoted remarks while on the job — including saying homosexuality is an “abomination,” claiming Hispanic people have “deceitful traits” and accusing her colleagues of sleeping their way to the top, new court papers claim.
Brooklyn Surrogate’s Court Judge Harriet Thompson was suspended with pay in December 2021 after the Inspector General for the state courts “substantiated” misconduct claims against her, according to the filing.
The IG found that Thompson called four other judges “gay racist f—-ts” who were “all f—king each other” and “trying to ruin me and get me,” according to the papers filed by the Office of Court Administration as it seeks to uphold the suspension.
“I hate these gay white men … being gay is an abomination to mankind,” Thompson, who was elected to a 14-year term in 2018, allegedly said of other judges.
The OCA’s court papers lay out dozens of other homophobic, racist or otherwise inappropriate and offensive comments that Thompson allegedly made before she was benched by New York Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks.
“A lot of the judges are jealous of me because I’m smart, whereas these other judges had to sleep with and f–k other people to get where they’re at,” the court papers claim Thompson said.
Thompson, who made $210,900 in 2021, according to SeeThroughNY, also allegedly said that she didn’t like Hispanic people, accusing them of being liars.
“I do not like Hispanic people. They have a deceitful trait that goes way back to biblical times,” the court papers allege she said.
The OCA claimed Thompson said “that whenever she has a case involving a litigant with a Hispanic sounding name, she ‘assumed the litigant was a liar.’”
She was also accused of demeaning court workers’ looks, swearing repeatedly and using racist and anti-gay slurs.
The appalling comments included once saying a gay judge was “fat now, from all of the evil of what he’s doing” and criticizing a black judge for having blond hair, the OCA claimed.
She also allegedly called a black judge “a house n—-r … and a puppet for the white man.”
Thompson, who previously served as a civil judge starting in 2011 for a 10-year term, allegedly once said that a female court employee “is a prostitute … I think her boyfriend is pimping her.”
She filed suit in April arguing that Marks and OCA wrongfully suspended her – without giving her the opportunity to defend herself.
Thompson also claimed that false accusations were made against her by a disgruntled court employee whom she had barred from her cases for alleged misconduct.
In December, the IG referred Thompson’s case to New York’s Commission on Judicial Conduct – the body responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct against judges and making disciplinary recommendations once their probes are concluded. The CJC’s investigations are confidential.
But since the CJC’s investigations can take at least two years, Marks “determined that it would not be appropriate for [Thompson] to continue to preside over judicial matters for the duration of the Commission’s investigation,” the court papers say.
Thompson’s lawyer, Matthew Berman, told The Post: “The judge denies all of the allegations that are asserted against her.”
Courts spokesman Lucian Chalfen told The Post: “Our position is clearly enunciated in our filings. Any further comment will be in court.”