New York’s top judge announced her resignation as the state’s Judiciary Commission considered a complaint that she improperly tried to influence a disciplinary hearing, according to people familiar with the matter.
New York State Court of Appeals Judge Janet DiFiore, 66, said in a letter Monday that she will retire on Aug. 31. In addition to presiding over the state’s highest court since 2016, Judge DiFiore is responsible for overseeing one of the nation’s largest state court systems.
The state Commission on Judicial Conduct has been investigating Judge DiFiore for several months in connection with a complaint filed last year by Dennis Quirk, head of the judicial officers’ union, according to people familiar with the matter. The commission voted in June to serve Judge DiFiore with a formal written complaint alleging she improperly used her position to influence a disciplinary hearing involving Mr. Quirk, these people said.
A formal complaint could have led to a hearing before the commission, which has the power to privately admonish judges or issue public warnings or reprimands. The commission can also dismiss judges from office. However, he has no jurisdiction over lawyers once they leave office, meaning her resignation effectively ends the investigation.
Mr. Quirk was the subject of a disciplinary hearing after court officials accused him of threatening to retaliate against Judge DiFiore in 2020. Mr. Quirk emailed the judge threatening to share information about her personal life after in a news report said she ordered an investigation into alleged racism of the union leader, according to a copy of the email filed in a related lawsuit.
Following the disciplinary proceedings, Mr Quirk was suspended from his employment as a judicial officer. He has denied any racist behavior in past interviews about the incident.
In a letter dated August 24 last year, Judge Di Fiore wrote to Phyllis Flug, who presided over the hearing, that Mr Quirk had a “childish temper” and that “in the absence of significant sanction, he would be encouraged to engage in similar misconduct in the future,” according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
“I implore you to use your authority wisely to uphold the values of our entire judicial system,” Judge DiFiore wrote in the message, which was printed on official letterhead.
New York’s Rules of Judicial Conduct state that judges may not use the prestige of judicial office to protect their personal interests and may not voluntarily testify as a character witness.
Deborah Scalise, who represented Judge DiFiore in the matter, said: “Complaints like Mr. Quirk’s are filed all the time. That’s part of being a public servant these days.”
She said Judge DiFiore had been planning her resignation for months and that it was “completely unrelated to Mr. Quirk’s complaint or any other outside factors.”
Commission on Judicial Conduct Administrator Robert Tembekjian said he is prohibited from commenting on matters related to the commission.
Law360 previously reported that Judge DiFiore was under investigation by the Judicial Conduct Commission.
Judge DiFiore said in her public resignation letter Monday that she was proud to have cleared the backlog, promoted racial equality and led the court system through the pandemic. “It’s time to move on to the next chapter of my professional life,” she wrote.
Judge DiFiore was the district attorney in Westchester County when she was nominated to the Court of Appeals by former Governor Andrew Cuomo in December 2015. She was sworn in two months later. She also previously chaired the recently disbanded ethics watchdog, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
Legal groups have praised her stewardship of the system, including increases in funding for civil legal services. In 2020, she commissioned a report that found racial disparities in hiring and a “toxic culture” among court officials.
She also wrote an opinion in April invalidating new House maps drawn by Democrats in the state legislature, dealing a blow to the party’s efforts to retain control of Congress.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul will name Judge DiFiore’s successor from a list of names to be provided by a vetting committee. Ms Hochul said Judge Di Fiore was a “critical asset” to the judiciary during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Email Jimmy Vielkind at Jimmy.Vielkind@wsj.com and Corinne Ramey at Corinne.Ramey@wsj.com
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