Staff Lawyer Claims Bosses Whitewashed Ethics Complaints
A former staff lawyer for a New York disciplinary committee has filed a lawsuit that claims her bosses whitewashed and dismissed complaints against select lawyers.
Christine Anderson claims in her federal suit that she was fired in retaliation for complaining in violation of the First Amendment, the New York Law Journal reports. She also says she was discriminated against because she is black.
The suit says Anderson’s superiors at the 1st Department Disciplinary Committee dismissed cases either because of their “own personal and political reasons” or because the cases would be “burdensome or otherwise ‘unworthy’ of prosecution.”
In one sensitive case, Anderson says she found “overwhelming concrete evidence of misconduct,” but the matter was dropped and much of the file was “gutted.”
Named as defendants were chief counsel Thomas Cahill and first deputy counsel Sherry Cohen. Cahill has announced his retirement, but is remaining in the job until a successor is found.
