A former Broome County judge has been denied a retrial after a federal jury found him discriminating against an employee.
On July 31, a civil case against former Broome County Family Court Judge Richard Miller II, 62, concluded, with a federal jury in Syracuse finding that Miller’s former court secretary, Rachelle Gallagher, faced gender discrimination while working for Miller.
The lawsuit, filed in December 2018, accuses the judge of creating a “toxic environment” from 2015 to the summer of 2017.
The charges against Miller include forcing Gallagher and the judge’s court attorney, Mark Kachadourian, to view pornography containing nude photos of colleagues, making sexual advances, using images and vulgar descriptions of sexual acts, and asking Gallagher to engage in sexual acts with an unnamed elected official for political favors.
At the conclusion of the trial on July 31, the court ordered Miller to pay $200,000 in restitution to the former employee.
Just three months later, on October 27, Miller filed a motion asking for the verdict to be overturned, for a new trial or for the damages to be reduced in the judgment against him.
In a ruling issued on December 30, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York rejected Miller’s request.
Miller’s Argument: Liability, Credibility, and Damages
Miller argued in a motion filed with the court on Oct. 27 that the jury lacked sufficient evidence to find him guilty.
Miller ran for Broome County Family Court Judge in 2014. The motion states that Miller had a pre-existing relationship with Gallagher and her family when she was hired — they were high school friends, Miller officiated her wedding and they had extended family connections.
He argued that because of that connection, Gallagher’s alleged words and actions “could not have been made possible by virtue of his authority as an officer” and instead he could have said “the same things and done the same conduct” during her employment “by virtue of their long-standing personal relationship.”
Miller went on to claim there was insufficient evidence to prove his actions were based on Gallagher’s gender. In the motion, he argued that if Gallagher’s testimony is credible, it proves he “was an equal opportunity actor in creating an offensive workplace by saying the same things and engaging in the same actions toward both of them,” referring to Gallagher and Katchadourian.
Miller also denied that he created a hostile work environment, and causation or actual harm was proven during trial. He argued the conduct was not “severe or pervasive” enough to warrant the charges against him.
The former judge asked for a new trial or reduced damages. He claimed that many of the witnesses lacked credibility and that the testimony “did not indicate that Gallagher was harmed in any way by Mr. Miller’s conduct.”
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Why the court rejected Miller’s request
In its decision, the court rejected Miller’s request, stating that he requested a reweigh of the evidence and witness credibility, an action that cannot be taken at the end of the trial. The court also ruled that Miller would be responsible for paying Gallagher’s attorney fees totaling $147,697.20.
The court argued that the jury “reasonably concluded that the conduct was severe and pervasive” and that they “reasonably concluded that the conduct was gender-based because all of the comments and actions stemmed from his desire to have sexual intercourse with women at the Broome County Courthouse.”
The verdict also noted that Miller committed the relevant acts while serving as a judge and acted under the guise of the law.
According to the ruling, the damages were reasonably calculated given testimony given by Gallagher about his mental health issues during and after his time as a court employee.
This article originally appeared in Binghamton Press and The Sun: Former Broome County Judge Richard Miller denies new trial in discrimination case