A Connecticut judge sexually harassed women and obstructed their access to courts by allowing his dog to go up behind them and put its snout under their skirts, a lawyer alleged Thursday.
In an unusual case before the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, the lawyer argued that a district judge erred in throwing out the case by saying the female plaintiff was “barking up the wrong tree.”
The class-action suit was filed last year on behalf of all women who were allegedly attacked in Connecticut Superior Court in Danbury by Kodak, a golden retriever.
The dog allegedly “aggressively nuzzled” the lead plaintiff, raised her skirt and “projected its snout upward,” according to the suit.
The suit alleges that the plaintiff’s constitutional rights were violated because the judge was acting in his official capacity when he allowed the dog to assault women and interfere with their access to the courthouse.
A federal judge in Connecticut had dismissed the suit, finding that Superior Court Judge Howard Moraghan was acting as a private citizen when he brought the dog into the courthouse.
Nancy Burton, the plaintiff’s lawyer, said Moraghan was able to bring his pet into the courthouse because he is a judge.
She said the judge would bring the dog into the clerk’s office, unleashed and unmuzzled, and watch “with a smirk on his face” as it harassed women.
Burton said the suit also alleges gender discrimination because the dog went after only women wearing skirts.
