Six women accused Judge Alex Kozinski of inappropriate behavior, which included pulling up pornographic images in the office and telling one former clerk that she should work out naked, according to a report.
Heidi Bond, who clerked for Kozinski on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, said he once called her into his office to ask whether a pornographic photo was photoshopped.
Bond said Kozinski showed her an image of a naked man and woman seated on a couch, and went on to ask her, “Does this kind of thing turn you on?”
Kozinski consulted her on pornographic images at least three times, according to Bond, now a a romance novelist who writes under the name Courtney Milan.
Responding to a Washington Post report that included allegations from Bond, along with five former clerks or junior staffers, Kozinski said, “I have been a judge for 35 years and during that time have had over 500 employees in my chambers.”
“I treat all of my employees as family and work very closely with most of them. I would never intentionally do anything to offend anyone and it is regrettable that a handful have been offended by something I may have said or done,” he added.
Bond said that on another occasion, Kozinski showed her a typed up “knock list” that kept track of women he and his college friends had slept with, she said.
Bond, who shared a statement on her own website, also detailed the ways in which Kozinski’s behavior affected her.
She gained 40 pounds, struggled to complete basic tasks, had trouble sleeping, and would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night thinking she heard the beeps on her phone that he used to summon her to the office, she wrote.
Emily Murphy, a law professor who had clerked for a different judge on the 9th Circuit, said she was at a reception with several others when Kozinski approached and told the entire group that she should work out naked.
“It wasn’t just clear that he was imagining me naked, he was trying to invite other people — my professional colleagues — to do so as well,” Murphy told the Post. “That was what was humiliating about it.”
Four others who spoke on the condition of anonymity shared instances in which Kozinski made them uncomfortable.
One said he looked her up and down in “a less than professional way”, while another cited at least two conversations with Kozinski that included “sexual overtones directed at me.”
In a 2008 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kozinski acknowledged keeping sexually explicit materials on a public website, thinking they were private.
The materials included a photo of a naked woman on all fours, and a video of a man with a sexually aroused farm animal.
Kozinski, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, was admonished for his “carelessness” after a judicial investigation.
Source: AP
