Brooklyn Judge Harriet Thompson agrees to step down, accused of racist, anti-gay outbursts
A controversial Brooklyn judge who was suspended more than a year ago over racist and anti-gay remarks has agreed to step down in the face of misconduct charges, officials said Monday.
Brooklyn Surrogate’s Court Judge Harriet Thompson was stripped of her docket in December 2021 over the outbursts — but continued to collect her $210,900 salary.
Under a new agreement, she is scheduled to resign or retire on March 1, a development that will allow her to avoid a hearing set for this month that most likely would have removed her from the bench.
Among the diatribes attributed to Thompson was an unhinged anti-gay rant recounted in an affidavit filed last year.
“I hate these gay white men,” she’s quoted as saying in a complaint while later declaring “gay racist f-----s ... trying to ruin me and get me. ... Being gay is an abomination to mankind. The Holy Ghost [is] going to get them.”
Thompson’s vile speech also included a remark that she “assumed the litigant was a liar” in cases involving anyone with a Hispanic-sounding name, according to an affidavit filed by the state’s chief administrative judge.
“They have a deceitful trait that goes way back to biblical times,” she was quoted as saying. “The men are always stealing and the women are no better. They lie, steal and use their vaginas for anything they want.”
The misconduct charges were brought against her by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Thompson also agreed never to seek or accept judicial office in the future.
Thompson was slapped in May 2022 with a formal written complaint alleging she made inappropriate comments to and about employees and judges of the Unified Court System. The charges alleged she displayed bias against various individuals and ethnicities and that she failed to administer Surrogate’s Court matters in a timely manner.
A hearing on the charges was scheduled to begin Jan. 17.
In November, Thompson produced a letter from her doctor claiming she was “not medically fit to stand trial at this time.” She also agreed to discontinue any lawsuits she had commenced against the commission.
“The conduct charged against Judge Thompson was egregious and, if established at trial, would have warranted her removal from office,” Judicial Conduct Commission Administrator Robert Tembeckjian said in a statement.
“She now claims a medical condition prevents her from performing judicial duties, which opens a different path in furtherance of the public interest for her immediate and permanent departure from the bench.”
Thompson declined to comment Monday.
She has served as a Surrogate’s Court judge since 2019. Her current term would have expired on Dec. 31, 2026. She previously was a New York City Civil Court judge from 2011 to 2018.
