US Judge Reprimanded After Harassment Complaint

Legal Ethics

US Judge Reprimanded After Harassment Complaint

Posted Oct 1, 2007, 04:45 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

An employee’s sexual harassment complaint has resulted in a reprimand against U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Galveston.

The Judicial Council of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reprimanded Kent following the complaint of former case manager Cathy McBroom, Texas Lawyer reports. The council’s order (PDF) of reprimand disclosed few details.

The Houston Chronicle interviewed co-workers who said McBroom “was a basket case” on the day of the incident. Sources also told the paper that the investigation included allegations that Kent had harassed others, sometimes “appeared inebriated on the job,” and favored former colleagues.

Neither publication was able to reach Kent for comment.

The council’s order said an investigating committee had expanded the original complaint “to investigate instances of alleged inappropriate behavior toward other employees of the federal judicial system.” The council accepted the recommendations of the committee and “concluded these proceedings because appropriate remedial action had been and will be taken, including but not limited to the Judge's four-month leave of absence from the bench, reallocation of the Galveston/Houston docket and other measures.”

The council does not have the power to remove Kent from the bench or to suspend his pay.

Little is known about the investigation because federal law keeps the probe secret and 5th Circuit rules require documents produced to be destroyed, writes columnist Rick Casey of the Houston Chronicle. The 5th Circuit’s order doesn’t clear up the confusion, he said.

"First, it's not at all clear what Kent did. The order makes vague references to a complaint of sexual harassment by an employee,” the column said. “The nature of the punishment is no clearer.”

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