Employment Discrimination Case Overturned Due to Judge's Antics

In employment discrimination cases, most cases settle before ever reaching a courtroom. As an employment lawyer, I hold out hope that the few cases that reach a courtroom will get the attention and respect they deserve. Apparently, this is not always the case.

Judge James M. Brooks, of the Orange County Superior Court, recently had his ruling overturned in an employment discrimination case because of his courtroom's "circus atmosphere". This is not the first time that Judge Brooks' behavior got him in trouble. In fact, he has been repeatedly criticized by California in the past

In 2003, James Haluck and Michael Litton sued their employer, Tustin-based Ricoh Electronics, and five employees, alleging they were passed over for promotions. The jury sided with Ricoh Electronics, awarding the men nothing, said their attorney Michelle Reinglass.

The engineers appealed in 2005, alleging Brooks' misconduct denied them of a fair trial.
In an opinion made public Monday, a three-justice panel from the 4th District Court of Appeal condemned Brooks' behavior, and ordered that Haluck and Litton be granted a new trial – before a different judge.

The panel cited several instances of judicial misconduct. One time, Brooks held up a sign he made that read "overruled" when addressing a plaintiffs' objection. The next day, the defense attorney gave the judge a different "overruled" sign, stating, "Your honor, I wanted to help you if I may. This is a much nicer version."
Brooks replied: "Better than my homemade one."

When the plaintiffs' lawyer objected, Brooks said: "The court will await receiving a 'sustained' sign from plaintiff(s) so we can split the benefit here."

"It is obvious that much of the judge's conduct was not malicious but rather a misguided attempt to be humorous,'' the justices wrote. "But a courtroom is not the Improv and the presider's role model is not Judge Judy."

Brooks, an Orange County judge since 1987, has been criticized by the state Commission on Judicial Performance before, including a case in which he called a Hispanic defendant "Pedro" instead of his real name and issued a warrant for an Asian defendant for "10,000 or 20,000 yen."