Connecticut’s top public defender fired for misconduct alleged by oversight board

HARTFORD, Conn. – An oversight panel fired Connecticut’s top public defender on Tuesday after accusing her of a series of misconduct, including unsubstantiated allegations of racism, mistreatment of employees and improper access to emails of employees and the president of the commission.

The firing of TaShun Bowden-Lewis, the first black man to serve as the state’s chief public defender, came by unanimous vote of the Public Defender Services Commission in Hartford. The panel held two public meetings in April, during which Bowden-Lewis has denied 16 allegations of misconduct and accused the panel of interfering with his legal authority to run the office.

“Miss Bowden-Lewis, we recognize this is a very difficult time for everyone, including you, the division and the commission,” commission chairman Richard Palmer said after the panel’s vote. with great hope for the future and never expected or wanted to be here today. It is the committee’s sincere hope that there are better days ahead for you and the division. Thanks.”

Bowden-Lewis, hired two years ago, attended the meeting with her attorney, Thomas Bucci. She declined to comment after the vote.

Bucci, the former mayor of Bridgeport, later told the Associated Press that Bowden-Lewis planned to appeal what he called an “illegal removal.”

“This was a distorted process, an unfair process, designed to remove a very capable and competent director who protected the integrity of the institution,” Bucci said in a telephone interview.

Bowden-Lewis previously said the commission was scrutinizing her much more than her predecessors and interfering with the authority given to her by state law. She also said an independent review of her actions by a law firm concluded that she did not discriminate, harass or create a hostile work environment, although Palmer questioned her interpretation of the findings.

Dozens of Bowden-Lewis’ supporters attended a hearing on April 16 and said she should not be fired.

The commission reprimanded Bowden-Lewis in October for alleged “inappropriate and unacceptable” conduct and placed her paid administrative leave in February, the same day the public defenders union voted 121-9 to express no confidence in its leadership. The reprimand included nine directives to Bowden-Lewis, some of which she did not comply with, the commission said.

The union said in a statement on Tuesday that it supported the commission’s decision to fire Bowden-Lewis and that the past two years had been marked by “controversy and dysfunction.”

The commission alleged that Bowden-Lewis created a work environment of fear and retaliation and made baseless allegations of racial discrimination against those who disagreed with her, including employees and Palmer, who is a retired state Supreme Court justice.

Bowden-Lewis was also accused of a pattern of mistreating employees, refusing to recognize the commission’s authority, disregarding its directives, and improperly ordering a subordinate to search employees’ and Palmer’s emails without his knowledge. .

While the chief public defender can review employees’ emails without them knowing, this can only be done for a valid reason, and Bowden-Lewis did not have one, according to Palmer. Bowden-Lewis said in April that the public defender’s office policy allowed her to search any employee’s email and no reason was needed, a response with which some commission members appeared to disagree.

Palmer said Bowden-Lewis obtained emails between himself and the commission’s legal counsel earlier this year when the commission was investigating alleged misconduct by Bowden-Lewis. He said these emails were potentially confidential and privileged for legal reasons.

Bowden-Lewis was also accused of reprimanding the lawyer without valid reason, in apparent retaliation for the lawyer’s cooperation with the commission and disloyalty to it, a notice of the allegations to Bowden-Lewis said. The commission later withdrew the reprimand of the legal advisor.

In one of the first public signs of acrimony between Bowden-Lewis and the commission, four of the panel’s five members resigned early last year after Bowden-Lewis made allegations of racism and threatened legal action over the commission’s rejection of your choice for human resources. director, reported The Hartford Courant.

The public defender’s office has more than 400 employees, including attorneys, investigators, social workers and other employees who serve low-income people who cannot afford lawyers in criminal and other cases.

Bowden-Lewis recently won a local award from a state lawyers’ group for promoting the inclusion and advancement of black lawyers.