Shocking allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation were revealed today against two judges and the administration of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court in Louisiana. A former court manager says she suffered a hostile work environment and quid pro quo sexual harassment by one judge and, when she refused to complain, other judges and the administration retaliated against her by firing her.

The court's former assistant fiscal manager claims that she was "repeatedly subjected to unwelcomed sexual advances by former Chief Judge David Bell over a three and a half year period, and, in at least one instance, former Judge Bell proposed to condition Ms. Griffith's pay raise upon exchange of a sexual favor."

When Judge Bell went on leave, his successor, Judge Ernestine Gray, asked the woman about whether she had faced harassment, and she admitted that she had. However, believing that Judge Bell was involved with "unsavory characters," she refused to go public with her complaint because she feared for her job and safety.

In return, the woman claims, Judge Gray went public with the allegations anyway, then started a campaign of harassment that ended in the plaintiff's wrongful termination.

Judge Bell resigned in June of last year amid sexual harassment allegations brought by Gray in regards to the plaintiff and several other court employees.

Anonymous e-mail accuses woman of having 'destroyed Judge Bell'

According to the complaint, Judge Bell routinely subjected the former manager to unwanted sexual advances, saying that he wanted to "get with her." He continued trying to persuade her to have sex with him even after she declined. At one point, he told the plaintiff that she could have a substantial raise if she would "go upstairs and take off [her] skirt."

The complaint names the State of Louisiana, the City of New Orleans, six current juvenile judges and the court's judicial administrator as defendants. The plaintiff claims they contributed to the problem by doing nothing to investigate or stop the hostile work environment at the court, which was pervasive and well-known.

Amidst the turmoil in June 2010, when the sexual harassment allegations against Judge Bell became public, an accusatory e-mail was sent anonymously to court staff through the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court website.

"Among other things, the email alleged that [the plaintiff] had destroyed Judge Bell and that she would destroy others to keep her job," according to the complaint. The former manager expressed concerns about her safety to the judicial administrator, but this complaint was also ignored.

The woman is seeking at least $75,000 in damages for emotional distressed caused by the sexual harassment and retaliation.

Source: Courthouse News Service, "Uproar in New Orleans Juvenile Court," Sabrina Canfield, February 10, 2011