Judiciary
Former judicial ethics chief information swimsuit claiming Colorado justices, different officers conspired to cover misconduct
The previous judicial ethics chief in Colorado has filed a lawsuit alleging that Colorado Supreme Courtroom justices “engaged in a conspiracy meant to absolve themselves of any accountability” in a scheme to hide details about a profitable contract with a departing courtroom administrative official. (Picture from Shutterstock)
Up to date: The previous judicial ethics chief in Colorado has filed a lawsuit alleging that Colorado Supreme Courtroom justices “engaged in a conspiracy meant to absolve themselves of any accountability” in a scheme to hide details about a profitable contract with a departing courtroom administrative official.
Christopher S.P. Gregory, the previous government director of the Colorado Fee on Judicial Self-discipline, an impartial judicial disciplinary company in Colorado, alleges within the Oct. 23 swimsuit that the justices engaged in a “scheme to suppress proof of their substantial legal and moral misconduct” within the matter.
Colorado justices hid details about the contract from the Colorado Workplace of the State Auditor and from the Colorado Fee on Judicial Self-discipline, the swimsuit says. By retaliating towards Gregory, the justices obstructed the investigation of attainable judicial ethics offenses, in line with the swimsuit.
Law360 and Courthouse Information Service have protection.
The swimsuit, filed within the U.S. District Courtroom for the District of Colorado, names as defendants the present justices on the Colorado Supreme Courtroom, in addition to former Colorado Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice Nathan Coats. Different defendants embody Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Colorado Legal professional Common Phil Weiser and different Colorado officers.
Gregory mentioned he’s a whistleblower who was wrongly terminated as a part of a conspiracy to deprive him of his proper to freedom of expression, to petition for grievances, to equal safety and to due course of. Retaliation towards him additionally included harassment, intimidation, creation of a hostile work surroundings, blackballing and defamation, he alleges within the swimsuit.
The alleged conspiracy stems from a contract of as much as $2.75 million for management coaching that was to be paid to outgoing chief of employees Mindy Masias of the Colorado State Courtroom Administrator’s Workplace, in line with the swimsuit. Masias was being fired for “monetary irregularities,” in line with a 2024 story by the Denver Gazette.
She had been accused of falsifying a receipt searching for reimbursement, the swimsuit says. She additionally authorized a positive separation settlement for an worker with data of damaging info, in line with Courthouse Information Service.
The contract with Masias was rescinded in 2019.
“The difficulty exploded in 2021,” the Denver Gazette reported, “with the revelation that the contract was allegedly a quid professional quo scheme designed to forestall that government—then-chief of employees Mindy Masias—from revealing in a tell-all sex-discrimination lawsuit years of judicial misconduct that went unreported or have been dealt with quietly.”
The Colorado justices “collaborated on injury management” after the allegations grew to become public, the swimsuit says.
All of the defendants “have an extended historical past of conspiring to suppress proof of judicial, legal professional and official misconduct by means of patterns of publicly funded hush cash (i.e. [nondisclosure agreements], self-controlled investigations and self-serving public relations methods,” the swimsuit alleges.
The obstruction and violations of the False Claims Act “have included repeated retaliation towards the plaintiff for his duty-bound pursuit of self-discipline towards the justices.”
An impartial investigation later concluded that Coats didn’t comply with the contract to silence Masias, and the contract was not a quid professional quo, the Denver Gazette reported in 2022. As an alternative, the deal was meant to maintain an worker with helpful expertise employed, the investigation concluded.
Coats was censured by a particular tribunal in August 2023 for permitting the contract to go ahead and for failing to reveal it to the state auditor the and state legal professional normal, Law360 reported in a previous article.
Suzanne Karrer, the chief communications officer for the Colorado Judicial Department, declined to remark.
“Per coverage, we don’t touch upon pending or present litigation,” she advised the ABA Journal in an e mail.
Up to date Oct. 28 at 2:10 p.m. so as to add Suzanne Karrer’s response.
Write a letter to the editor, share a narrative tip or replace, or report an error.
