The Denver Metropolis Council on Monday authorized a $200,000 cost to settle a lawsuit that alleges county courtroom officers failed to analyze after which retaliated towards a judicial assistant who reported {that a} decide sexually assaulted and harassed her.
In a lawsuit filed towards the town in 2020, the attorneys for the assistant laid out her encounter with then-Decide Andrew Armatas in the summertime of 2016. JHB is just not figuring out the girl as she is the sufferer of an alleged sexual assault.
Armatas had such a fame for undesirable advances and bodily contact with feminine courtroom workers that he was identified round that point as “Decide Sensitive Feely,” the lawsuit alleges. He couldn’t be reached for remark Tuesday.
The day Armatas allegedly assaulted her, the assistant was working for a special decide when Armatas got here into that decide’s courtroom. After asking when the presiding decide can be again, Armatas advised the girl, “You seem like you wish to get soiled. You seem like you would get wild,” the lawsuit alleges. He then kissed her and touched her breasts earlier than she screamed at him and he left the room, in keeping with the allegations made within the lawsuit.
The lady reported the incident to her fast supervisor that very same day, however, after two years, courtroom management nonetheless had not taken motion, her attorneys stated.
In July 2018, the assistant reported Armatas to human sources and the Denver Police Division and the town retained Employment Issues, an out of doors consulting agency, to analyze the decide’s conduct, in keeping with the lawsuit.
By way of interviews performed by Employment Issues, it was uncovered that Armatas had a sample of performing inappropriately with feminine courtroom workers, together with asking some courtroom workers out for drinks, asking for his or her cellphone numbers and even touching them with out their consent, the lawsuit stated.
The assistant ultimately took her complaints to the federal Equal Employment Alternative Fee and the Colorado Civil Rights Division earlier than submitting her lawsuit.
She alleged that she was given a 15-day unpaid suspension below false pretenses for reporting the decide. In January 2019, she was fired. The explanation given, in keeping with the lawsuit, was that her allegations towards Armatas have been false and dishonest.
The lawsuit alleged that the assistant was discriminated towards by the town of Denver based mostly on her race, gender and age. She was over 40 and is of Mexican American descent.
“Defendant handled Plaintiff otherwise due to her gender, nationwide origin and age than the way in which it handled male, non-Hispanic and youthful staff,” the lawsuit says.
The council on Monday authorized the $200,000 cost, meant to cowl damages and attorneys’ charges within the case, with out remark. It was authorized as a part of a unanimous block vote, signaling an absence of controversy and broad assist.
Barry Roseman, one of many attorneys who represented the assistant within the case, declined to remark when reached by cellphone.
Armatas is just not listed as a present Denver Court docket decide. Court docket workers didn’t reply to an electronic mail looking for additional details about the standing of Armatas, who was appointed to the bench in 1990.
The lawsuit signifies the Denver Police Division investigated the girl’s allegations towards Armatas, however there aren’t any courtroom data indicating he was charged.
Court docket Administrator Kristin Wooden stated in a press release that the 2 events to the lawsuit wished to resolve the matter “with out additional protracted litigation.”
“Each events stand by their respective litigation positions and neither occasion has admitted legal responsibility or benefit to any of the claims or defenses now pending in litigation,” Wooden stated.
The settlement comes after the Colorado Judicial Division was rocked by allegations of misconduct going missed. An impartial investigation summarized in a report launched final yr discovered that staff within the state-level courtroom system feared retaliation in the event that they reported misconduct.
Seven former and present staff of the Colorado Judicial Department advised The Publish in 2021 that sexism was pervasive of their office.
Denver Publish workers author Shelly Bradbury contributed to this report.
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