US federal magistrate judge agrees to address alleged 'intemperate conduct'

By Nate Raymond

June 23 (Reuters) - A federal magistrate judge agreed to undergo workplace conduct training and allow an official to check-in with his law clerks after one clerk resigned and accused him of engaging in "intemperate conduct" by yelling and raging at clerks, court staff and attorneys.

The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Judicial Council in an order made public last week revealed that it had recently appointed a committee to investigate allegations against the judge by a former clerk who said he resigned because he could no longer endure the unnamed judge's "abuse."

It marked a rare instance of a federal judicial panel publicly addressing a misconduct complaint against a judge filed by a clerk, amid a continuing debate about whether the judiciary is doing enough to address workplace misconduct.

As is often the case in judicial misconduct cases, the order from the 19-member judicial council identified neither the judge, nor the clerk who filed a complaint pursuant to the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act of 1980.

The complainant alleged that the judge "yelled," "flew into a rage," spoke in "a condescending, demeaning, and ridiculing tone," was "overly hostile," and "ridiculed and belittled" the clerk over how to handle cases and the clerk's work product.

The clerk said the judge also twice "exploded in anger" at attorneys in his courtroom, yelled at maintenance staff over the temperature in his office, regularly yelled obscenities in his chambers and had reduced another clerk to tears on several occasions as a result of his verbal attacks.

After the complaint was filed, court staff interviewed two of the judge's law clerks who were referenced in the complaint and asked the judge to respond.

Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod in December subsequently appointed an investigative committee consisting of herself, U.S. Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick and U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan.

That committee went on to gather interviews with another judge in the same courthouse, as well as two attorneys who regularly appear before the magistrate judge.

Witnesses interviewed during the inquiry reported that the judge sometimes got angry or frustrated, but most witnesses said his moments of frustration were not inappropriate or abusive, the council said. Several of the clerk's allegations were also not corroborated, the court order said.

In January, Elrod and Jordan met with the judge and "discussed their concerns about the objective appearance of the conduct in question and what degree of discourtesy transcends the expected zealous nature of litigation and moves into the sphere of cognizable misconduct," the court order said.

The council said the judge acknowledged their concerns and promised to avoid potentially intemperate conduct. He agreed to complete three hours of workplace conduct training and let a court official check in confidentially with his law clerks.

The judicial council cited those agreements in finding the matter had been resolved on the basis of the judge taking corrective action to resolve the claims about his alleged intemperate conduct. The council's order was dated April 22, and the 5th Circuit's website said the matter was closed on June 18.

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