Peekskill part-time City Court Judge Lissette Fernandez says in a federal lawsuit that the Common Council passed her over for a full-time position because Fernandez filed the complaint that led to the resignation of former City Court Judge Reginald Johnson.
In court papers, an attorney for Judge Fernandez alleges the Council picked two other women — first Lisa Daley and then current full-time Judge Sophia Trott — who are allegedly less qualified than Fernandez.
“From the moment she was appointed to the part-time Peekskill City Court judge position, Plaintiff [Fernandez] was subjected to sexual harassment, sex discrimination and a hostile work environment by her co-judge, Reginald J. Johnson,” the court papers allege.
“After she complained about Johnson’s unlawful behavior, an investigation occurred that resulted in Johnson’s voluntary resignation from the bench with more than nine years left on his term, a New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct Press Release, and a deluge of local press and publicity slamming Johnson for his inappropriate behavior as a Peekskill City Court judge.
“Thereafter, the Peekskill City Common Council retaliated against Plaintiff for her complaint by failing to promote her to the full-time City Court judge position, instead appointing two much less-qualified individuals,” according to the allegations filed by her attorney Bruce Menken, of the Manhattan-based firm Menken Simpson & Rozger LLP. The lawsuit was filed May 27 in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. The action is brought to remedy claims of retaliation under the Civil Rights Act of 1871 and the New York State Human Rights Law, according to the court papers.
Another lawsuit claiming retaliation by Peekskill officials
Claiming her free speech rights were violated because she filed the complaint against Johnson, Fernandez’s attorney wants her promoted to the full-time City Court Judge position, back pay for lost wages, front pay for future lost earnings, damages for emotional distress and pain and suffering and attorneys’ fees.
In a separate federal lawsuit, former city Assistant Water & Sewer Superintendent Brian Raphael won a default judgment against Peekskill that claimed he was terminated after his persistent complaints about alleged unsafe working conditions. His attorney filed court papers last week demanding $6 million in damages.
In another federal lawsuit, former paid city firefighter Robert Pappas alleged that he was passed over for promotion claiming racial discrimination because of his Middle Eastern descent. Settlement talks in that case are ongoing.
In September 2023 the Common Council approved a $1 million payout in a case involving an off-duty police officer who’s involvement in an auto accident led to the death of one pedestrian and injuries to another. The city did not respond in a timely matter to that complaint and lost another default judgment without arguing a defense.
In June 2023 Peekskill agreed to a $105,000 settlement with a Department of Public Works employee who claimed he was harassed and had his rights violated by supervisors. The city agreed to the payment while stating that “… all actions taken with respect to his employment with the City were made without malice, ill will, fraud, oppression, personal spite or any other improper motive.”
Johnson resigns following state investigation
Former Judge Johnson won reappointment to a second ten-year term in January 2024 from the all-Democratic Common Council after having served on the bench since January 2014.
Then last July, the state agency that oversees the courts brought charges of ticket-fixing and verbal abuse against Johnson that ultimately led to his September 2024 resignation.
The New York state Commission on Judicial Conduct determined that Judge Johnson “… failed to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary by failing to maintain high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary would be preserved.”
The Commission found that from 2018 to August 2022 Johnson “…acted in a rude, impatient, undignified and/or otherwise discourteous manner by berating, screaming, yelling or otherwise raising his voice to staff members of the Peekskill City Court.”
The Commission cited seven cases where Johnson was verbally abusive to female staff members and city employees, leaving several of them in tears.
The Commission report also revealed a long-standing practice by Judge Johnson of dismissing moving violation of traffic laws for friends and politically influential people.
In its report, the Commission cited six cases where Judge Johnson dismissed moving violations when the drivers would have faced significant fines and possible jail time. In all of the cases, Johnson did not inform prosecutors or police that he was unilaterally dismissing the charges.
In her original complaint to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct filed on Dec. 15, 2021 and in her new lawsuit, Fernandez makes several allegations of harassment against Johnson. The Commission concluded that “[o]n at least one occasion [Johnson] touched or caressed his co-judge’s her arm (sic) without invitation or permission, and otherwise said offensive things to her.”
However, in a letter to the Peekskill Herald following his resignation, Judge Johnson noted, “The Report concluded that the allegation you [Judge Johnson] made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature to Judge Fernandez when you referred to her as a “beautiful Latina” was substantiated.
“The allegation that you inappropriately touched Judge Fernandez was unsubstantiated. The allegation that you stalked, harassed, bullied and attempted to use your power to harm Judge Fernandez during a meeting on February 9, 2022 was unsubstantiated.”
Johnson stated in the letter to the Herald that he resigned “… due to the extreme financial and emotional strain that these allegations have had on me and my family, and in the best interests of the community. In closing, I take full responsibility for the negative press that has enveloped the Peekskill City Court over the past few weeks. I am human and I made some mistakes for which I am sorry.”
Passing over Judge Fernandez
Judge Fernandez was appointed to a six-year term as the part-time Peekskill City Court Judge by the Peekskill Common Council on Jan. 23, 2020. According to the court papers she had significant experience litigating criminal and civil cases in state and federal courts during her work as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx and as a New York state assistant attorney general.
Following Johnson’s resignation in September 2024, the Common Council took applications to fill the full-time judge role. Fernandez applied for the job and was interviewed by the Council.
According to court papers, on Oct. 15, 2024, the seven Council members interviewed Fernandez for the full-time City Court Judge position. “Other than greeting the Plaintiff, Mayor [Vivian] McKenzie said nothing else to Plaintiff and did not ask her any questions.”
The Herald reported in November of 2024 that Lisa Daley, then serving as a Court Attorney-Referee in the Bronx Family Court, was chosen, but she did not accept the position. “Daley was less qualified than Plaintiff for the position in that she had very little, if any, criminal law experience or prior experience sitting as a judge. Unlike Plaintiff, who was raised in Peekskill, Daley had little connection to the City,” the court papers allege.
Later in November the Council chose Trott to fill the full-time judge role. “Trott had no experience sitting as a judge, nor did she have any experience in the criminal justice system. Her experience instead lied with real estate closings, wills and family law—areas of the law not litigated in Peekskill City Court,” the court papers state.
Trott, a Peekskill resident for five years, is a member of the Peekskill chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and chair of the organization’s Criminal Justice Committee.
Trott is a former president of the Westchester Black Bar Association, a former member of the Mount Vernon Planning Board, former chairperson of the Mount Vernon Taxi Commission, former Secretary of the Board of Westhab of Mount Vernon (an affordable housing developer), a former member of the Board of Westchester Legal Aid Society, and a former mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Westchester & Putnam.
Fernandez alleges that Mayor McKenzie has a close friendship with former Judge Johnson, presenting him with a New York City group’s “2024 Civic Engagement Award” at a gala dinner the day he announced his “retirement” from Peekskill City Court.
Peekskill officials did not return a request for comment by our deadline.
