Judge Hanuszczak kissed clerks against their will, harassed women and lied, watchdog says

Family Court Judge Michael Hanuszczak kissed two employees against their will, asked them out for secret dates, discussed his marital problems and tried to convince one to serve on a political campaign, a judicial watchdog has found.

He then lied about some of his behavior to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, destroying his credibility, the commission found.

Hanuszczak’s response to the allegations did not deny misconduct, but instead argued that his actions weren’t as bad as the employees were making them, the commission noted.

An Onondaga County judge for two decades, Hanuszczak, 64, of Camillus, retired suddenly, effective Monday, on the day his misconduct was revealed.

Had the judge not retired, the judicial watchdog said, it would have sought his removal from office.

“The relationship between judge and court staff is not equal. The power inherent in judicial office must not be exploited for personal purposes," administrator Robert Tembeckjian said in a news release. "Obviously, a judge should not initiate unwelcome kissing of court staff or propose ‘discreet’ dating to a subordinate. Had he not resigned, my office would have recommended Judge Hanuszczak’s removal for such disreputable behavior.”

Hanuszczak has not responded to requests for comment. But his lawyer, Robert Julian, issued a statement saying that the judge regretted his mistakes.

“Judge Hanuszczak had a nearly 20-year career on the bench in which nearly 50 of decisions were published,” Julian said. "He presided with success over two specialty courts and he has worked vigorously to achieve justice as a jurist.

“He regrets the mistakes that he has made and his resignation/retirement is offered in that spirit,” Julian wrote.

While the judge sent in a one-sentence resignation letter (required to leave office before the end of a term), he also retired in the eyes of the state pension system. That allows him to collect a pension as a retiree. Hanuszczak made roughly $200,000 a year as judge; the state is still computing his pension amount.

The judge’s downfall came after two employees alleged inappropriate conduct spanning six years, from 2011 to 2017. Hanuszczak has been under investigation since March 2019.

One employee said that his inappropriate behavior increased until the day she was reassigned from his court office. That’s when Hanuszczak admits that he leaned in, without her consent, and kissed her on the cheek. The clerk told the commission that she thought he was going for her lips when she turned her head to the side, so his kiss landed on her cheek.

“We were standing near the door. He was right in front of me ...” the employee testified. “He put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me toward him and then came in toward my face ... He leaned his head into my space like he was leaning in to kiss me. So I turned my head and he got my cheek area right next to my lip ... He put his lips on me ... It was his lips on me with his hands pulling me toward him ... I was angry. I was disgusted. I pushed him away.”

During the interaction, the judge also made an inappropriate comment to his departing employee, the commission found.

“No one knows me like you do, not even my wife … you anticipate my every need,” the employee testified that he told her.

That employee also said that the judge took her out for coffee and pressured her into working on his campaign for another elected judicial post, while simultaneously noting that her husband was out of town and asking for dinner.

In regards to the second employee, the judge admitted making numerous references to dating her. In one, the employee recalled the judge asking for a date, but saying they’d have to keep it a secret.

“I’m sure you know I’m still attracted to you,” the judge told her on a business trip, according to the employee. “If you have any interest in dating me, that’s something we can discuss. We would have to be quiet about it because we wouldn’t want, you know ... we would have to be quiet or private about it.”

“We were just driving to this meeting, about to have a meeting to talk about (drug) treatment options, and it just kind of like came out of the blue,” she testified.

The judge acknowledged that he should not have had such a discussion with a court employee.

Hanuszczak said he didn’t remember kissing the second employee. But the commission found that, given his admitted untruthfulness in another regard, that his response lacked credibility.

The judge had denied seeking a romantic relationship with the second employee, when later, in fact, he admitted doing so.

“It should be noted that (Hanuszczak’s) admitted deceit during an investigation undermined his credibility and account of the factual incidents supporting the charges, allowing inferences against his account of events where factual nuances were in dispute," commission referee Linda Clark noted.

The judge also displayed juvenile behavior, the first employee testified. In one case, Hanuszczak “laughed and giggled” in reference to a sexual innuendo involving a three-way court conference call, the employee said.

The referee said that, even if unintentional, Hanuszczak’s behavior “demonstrated an insensitivity and lack of concern or self-awareness regarding courtroom demeanor that is telling and relevant in the context of this case.”

The first employee also recalled the judge discussing his marital problems with her, making her uncomfortable. Later, when turning him down for dinner, the employee told him that she’d been married for “thirty-plus years” and she “did not think it was appropriate to be having dinner with someone, a man,” the Commission noted.

Before becoming judge, Hanuszczak served as a Republican Onondaga County legislator from 1991 to 1995, representing the West Side of Syracuse. He went on to take a supervising role in the state Attorney General’s Office. He was elected Family Court judge in 2000.

Hanuszczak graduated Syracuse University’s Maxwell School in 1980 and received his law degree from the State University at Buffalo. He began at a local law firm in 1985 and worked in private practice until his election to the county legislature.

Hanuszczak made roughly $200,000 a year as a Family Court Judge. He was also appointed an acting state Supreme Court Justice in 2004, giving him expanded powers over other types of cases.

Hanuszczak’s seat is one of two open Family Court openings in this fall’s election. Running for the two seats are Democrats Julie Cerio and Christie DeJoseph and Republicans Paula Engel and Salvatore Pavone.

Guy sounds like a creep, but where’s the outrage over all the judges who have played fast and loose with the law and Constitution? That’s far more heinous than what THIS over-libidoed dingbat did. Oh...never mind...there’s an R after his name.

I wonder if their are any election duties he may have been called on to assist. Who will fill the remainder of his term? Is that when a candidate is certified having won, with dems playing games or is a date certain? I don’t trust democrats to do the right thing ever.

Women are out of Biden’s league. He prefers his females to be between 6 and 10 years of age. In a pinch, he will take a mature 10 year old, but 11 is too old for him. That a Nation would choose something such as that to rule over them tells you where their morals are.

Evidently judges sometime have "exotic" tastes.

Kinky Kentucky judge, 38, is accused of turning her chambers into a glorified frat house where she 'pressured attorneys into group sex and had a threesome with her secretary and former church pastor'

Dawn Gentry is accused of having threesomes in her office with her secretary and a guitar player she hired to work in the court as her case specialist
She allegedly asked a female attorney to sleep with her husband while they were getting divorced so she could accuse him of infidelity
Gentry, it is alleged, also asked the woman to have group sex with her and the guitar player
Others claim they were replaced if they did not donate to her re-election campaign
The claims are part of an investigation by the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission

By JENNIFER SMITH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 08:56 EDT, 6 December 2019 | UPDATED: 16:17 EDT, 6 December 2019

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.