A Brooklyn court clerk claims investigators mothballed her sexual-harassment complaints against her boss because his wife is a judge.
Criminal Court clerk Judy Torres-Albert alleges her supervisor, first deputy chief John T. Dougherty — who is married to Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Marguerite Dougherty, 62 — has tormented her for 10 years with lewd comments, obscene gestures and creepy requests.
“He acts the way he does because he can get away with it,” Torres-Albert, 56, told The Post. “I absolutely believe that the [inspector general] stalled this investigation because his wife is a judge.”
The clerk alleged in court papers that Dougherty asked her if she “took any naked pictures” of herself, referred to her as “one of those hot Latinas” and once called her into his office “because I want to see your ass walk out.”
She said she worked with Dougherty for 12 years at Brooklyn Supreme Court and became “increasingly uncomfortable” as his alleged antics intensified.
He would “ask me to sit on his lap” and “he’d grab his privates over his pants and then shake them at me,” she told The Post.
Torres-Albert says the Office of Court Administration’s IG promised a “full investigation” after she filed a complaint in March.
But when she asked for a progress report last week, she learned that no one was interviewed and the probe was suspended.
OCA officials told The Post the investigation was halted because Torres-Albert’s union filed a Manhattan Supreme Court petition on June 30.
“This case has been treated as any other allegation of inappropriate conduct,” said OCA spokesman Lucian Chalfen, explaining it is policy to suspend such investigations pending legal complaints.
The state court clerks union said the complaint was filed to reverse Torres-Albert’s demotion, which it claims was retribution for her refusal “to succumb” to Dougherty’s “sexual advances.”
Neither John Dougherty nor Judge Dougherty returned messages seeking comment.