A federal judge has thrown out a retaliation claim filed by a former Buffalo City Court clerk who had accused a local judge of sexual harassment. Elizabeth Danials-Kirisits claimed that after Judge Anthony LoRusso was removed from Family Court in 1992 and after the Office of Court Administration in 1997 settled her sexual discrimination claim, she was denied promotions and ultimately fired in retaliation. But Western District Judge William Skretny (See Profile), in a decision posted yesterday, said Danials-Kirisits’ complaints against LoRusso are far too attenuated from her firing 15 years later.
Records show that Danials-Kirisits repeatedly received favorable evaluations after accusing LoRusso of misconduct in 1989 and settling her bias case in 1997. However, after a series of incidents beginning around 2005, Danials-Kirisits was fired. She claimed the firing was in retaliation for her complaint against LoRusso. In defending the OCA, the Attorney General’s Office argued that the plaintiff’s allegations were "based largely on delusional hearsay, including claims that OCA wiretapped her phone and that judges in New York City were attempting to take over the Eighth Judicial District." Skretny, in granting a defense motion for summary judgment, rejected Danials-Kirisits’ claims of gender and age discrimination and retaliation.
