The all-Democrat Colorado Supreme Court, which just ruled Donald Trump should be removed from the GOP primary ballot for “insurrection”, has been mired in an extensive sexual harassment and discrimination scandal since 2021.
The scandal was exposed following reporting on a multi-million dollar contract awarded to Mindy Masias, a departing judicial department chief of staff, with no alternative bids. It emerged Masias had been on the cusp of being fired when she threatened she would go public with sexual harassment allegations if the contract was not awarded to her. She handed over a secret recording of the then-Chief Justice discussing issues with sexism in the judicial department as part of the deal.
After the scandal broke, the courts released a memo detailing many alleged issues in the Colorado courts. These included an incident in which a “judge exposed and rubbed his hairy chest on a female employee’s back,” and another in which a judge “sent pornography over judicial email and was later appointed as a chief judge in a judicial district.”
The response to the investigation into the scandal by Investigations Law Group (ILG) was overwhelming, with 17 percent of surveyed employees saying they had experienced sexual harassment or discrimination at work, and 21 percent saying they had witnessed such ill-treatment.
Sixty-nine percent of mistreated staff did not report their experiences, explaining they “knew it wouldn’t do any good” and that they were “afraid of retaliation”. Of those who did report mistreatment, 77 percent were unsatisfied with the response.
