Ex-Magistrate Judge Accused of Hostile Workplace Denied Review

A Judicial Conference committee rejected a former US magistrate judge’s request to review a court order laying out her alleged misconduct that included unpredictable outbursts and threats of termination.

Carmen E. Garza had sought review of a September 2022 order by a council of Tenth Circuit appellate and trial court judges that said “nearly all of Judge Garza’s employees” in the District of New Mexico reported she engaged in hostile behavior.

Garza, who wasn’t reappointed to a new eight-year term, said the Tenth Circuit erred in making findings even though a special committee investigating complaints against her hadn’t completed its review.

The US Judicial Conference Judicial Conduct and Disability Committee denied her petition for review May 19.

“The Judicial Council has made it clear in these proceedings that its Order did not intend to and does not make findings of misconduct against Judge Garza and did not reach the merits of the complaint filed against her,” the committee said.

The Judicial Conference findings were reported earlier by American Lawyer Media.

The committee said it intends to “undertake an examination into the permissible scope” of institutional reviews which “has not previously been delineated” in the judicial conduct and disability rules or by the panel.

The investigation of Garza found two former law clerks and two anonymous employees who had also worked for her filed a complaint in September 2021 detailing allegations of a hostile work environment.

Garza denied the allegations, but said she was willing to take appropriate corrective action.

Garza was appointed a magistrate judge in 2006 and served until last August when her term expired and wasn’t renewed.