A group that advocates for judicial clerks has accused a Connecticut appeals court judge of bullying and mistreating her staff — two years after the judge acknowledged and agreed to counseling following an earlier hostile workplace complaint.
The nonprofit Legal Accountability Project brought the complaint against U.S. Circuit Judge Sarah A.L. Merriam, a former political aide to U.S. Sen. Christopher Murphy and who was appointed to the New York-based U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by former President Joe Biden in 2022.
“Judicial law clerks who worked for Judge Merriam … describe a chambers culture and workplace climate characterized by fear, oppressive control, intimidation, humiliation, and bullying: in other words, the hallmarks of a toxic and hostile work environment,” Legal Accountability Project founder and president Aliza Shatzman wrote wrote to the chief judge of the circuit court.
“According to these clerks, Judge Merriam yells at them and sends unhinged emails in all capital letters. Judge Merriam’s conduct, including sudden and unpredictable outbursts, is part of what the clerks described as an emotional rollercoaster of unpredictable mood swings.”
Shatzman said her group’s complaint is the first time a federal judge has been accused of mistreating staff after being reprimanded following an earlier accusation. Merriam could not be reached.
The first complaint, in which a clerk made similar accusations of abusive and harassing conduct, was filed with the circuit court in 2022, not long after Merriam’s appointment. Chief
Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston, ordered an inquiry, according to a filing in court.
“These interviews revealed that the workplace conduct concerns raised in the complaint were shared by other law clerks who, while recounting that they had learned a lot from the Judge, agreed that the Judge’s management style could be overly harsh,” Livingston wrote at the conclusion of the first inquiry. “The limited inquiry also involved several meetings between the Judge and me to discuss the allegations and possible corrective action.”
As a result Merriam agreed to, among other things, counseling and training.
The Legal Accountability Project claims circuit court executives failed to intervene when Merriam continued to mistreat staff after the first complaint. The new complaint is expected to lead to a second inquiry by either Livingston or a committee of judges she appoints, according to an official with knowledge of the process.
Former associates in Connecticut said Merriam is known for her quick temper and combative nature. There have also been reports of mistreatment of clerks, they said. But some contrasted the complaints against her to more serious allegations against other judges, such as sexual harassment complaints against two West Coast judges.
The most recent complaint against Merriam asserts that clerks have begun leaving Merriam’s staff or declining employment because of concern about mistreatment.
One of the goals of the legal accountability project is to extend civil rights protections to clerks, who are often top law school graduates seeking to fill out resumes with prestigious appointments. The extension would allow them to sue over workplace harassment.
Merriam clerked herself for former governor and later 2nd Circuit Judge Thomas Meskill and for U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson.
She also worked as political director to a state employee union local and managed or helped manage campaigns for two Democratic U.S. senators — Murphy and former U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd.
Prior to her appointment to the prestigious New York appeals court, Merriam worked in Connecticut as a U.S. District Court judge, a U.S. Magistrate judge and a federal public defender.
Merriam, who grew up in New Haven, attended Georgetown University as an undergraduate and law school at the University of Connecticut and Yale University. Prior to becoming an assistant federal defender, she served as an associate at the law firm of Cowdery, Ecker & Murphy in Hartford.