Family Court Judge Rick Miller Sued For Sexual Harassment
A Broome County Family Court Judge, who had been removed from the bench in 2017 and reassigned to other duties, is being named in a lawsuit claiming he subjected employees to pornography and lewd behavior.
The suit against Richard Miller II was filed in Federal court December 21 on behalf of court attorney Mark Kachadourian and secretary Rachelle Gallagher claiming incidents and threats dating back to 2015. The suit says a jury trial is “demanded.”
Judge Miller is accused of forcing Gallagher and Kahadourian to view a nude photo of a co-worker as well as listen to graphic descriptions of sexual acts. The Republican, who was first elected to the Family Court for a ten year term in 2014, also is alleged to have threatened the plaintiffs with injury or death if they reported him and told Gallagher that if he had a different secretary, she would take care of his sexual needs.
Miller, son of the late New York State Assemblyman Richard Miller, had been removed from the bench in August 2016 and reassigned with no information offered as to the reason for the removal or the length of that action. The other three Family Court Judges at the time were reassigned Miller’s case load.
In the lawsuit, Kachadourian and Gallagher claimed they had been subjected to in harassing and abusive behavior at least fifty times between 2015 and June of 2017.
The suit also claims the Unified Court System failed to respond to claims starting in 2015, forcing the plaintiffs to continue to work in a toxic environment.
The complaint is filed in a 22 page document available at the United States District Court Northern District of New York.