Judge settles sexual harassment claims
May be subject to discipline
A Plymouth County judge has settled sexual harassment claims with two female court employees, but he still faces potential disciplinary action by the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct, which has been investigating the matter in secret for months, judiciary officials said yesterday.
The state yesterday paid a court officer and a court clerk a total of $250,000, including attorney fees, to settle their claims against Juvenile Court Judge Robert F. Murray, according to the Comptroller's Office. Murray allegedly made inappropriate phone calls to the clerk and gave the officer an unwanted kiss.
''The settlement does not affect the judicial conduct proceeding," said Joan Kenney, a spokeswoman for the courts.
Murray, 60, who has been on paid leave since about Jan. 1, admitted no wrongdoing in the settlements.
In an unusual move, the Supreme Judicial Court appointed a special counsel, Joan A. Lukey, a trial lawyer, several months ago to help the commission conduct an in-depth probe. The commission investigated an average of 189 complaints a year from 1999 to 2004, but it appointed a special counsel on average only once a year.
Martha P. Grace, chief justice of the state's juvenile courts, said the matter remains unresolved although it has been in the hands of the Judicial Nominating Commission ''for almost a year."
Complaints filed with the commission and its proceedings are confidential unless the panel brings formal charges against a judge, which is rare.
The executive director of the commission, Gillian E. Pearson, would not even confirm that a complaint against Murray is pending.
Robert A. Mulligan, chief justice for administration and management of the trial courts, who relayed the allegations against Murray to the commission, also declined to comment.
Murray, a former Plymouth prosecutor who usually sits in Brockton, went on paid medical leave at the start of the year and was placed on paid administrative leave June 1, pending the outcome of the commission's investigation, Kenney said. He earns $112,777 a year. He did not return phone calls yesterday.
Barbara Brawders, the court officer, received $105,000 to settle her claim of ''emotional distress," and her lawyers received $45,000 in fees, according to copies of settlement agreements obtained from the comptroller's office. Michelle Goldberg, a court clerk, received $75,000 to settle the same kind of claim, and her lawyer got $25,000 in fees.
The agreements, which bar the judge and both women from publicly discussing them, do not describe Murray's alleged misdeeds. Neither of the women returned phone calls.
Brawders's lawyer, Lynn G. Weissberg, said her client might comment if the commission issues formal charges against Murray and the complaint proceeds to a public hearing. Goldberg's lawyer, Marisa A. Campagna, declined to comment.
Paul F. Ware Jr., who served as a special counsel to the judicial conduct commission in a case that led to charges of ethics violations against former Superior Court judge Maria Lopez, said it is uncertain whether the settlement between Murray and the women will affect the outcome of the panel's investigation.
''There are a host of reasons why a civil settlement might have occurred, among them expense, time, inconvenience, and embarrassment," he said. ''So the fact of the settlement by itself would not govern any decision making by the commission."
Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com. 