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LASC Judge Thomas J. Griego Draws Public Admonishment
CJP Says He Persistently Displays Rudeness in Handling Small Claims Matters
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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THOMAS J. GRIEGO judge |
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Griego, who was elected to his post in 2014 and despite the length of his service has been relegated to hearing small claims matters, was publicly admonished by the state’s judicial disciplinary agency yesterday for abusive conduct last year in handling such cases.
The Commission on Judicial Performance (“CJP”) said:
“Judge Griego engaged in a pattern of pervasive poor demeanor, including making discourteous, disparaging, and gratuitous remarks to litigants; making comments conveying the appearance of bias and prejudgment; and raising his voice at litigants….”
It criticized Griego for insisting that litigants not respond to his questions by saying, simply, “yes” or “no,” but “yes, your honor,” or “no your honor.”
Insulting Conduct
In a matter heard on June 22, 2023, Griego said of the defendant: “She’s dirty. You can’t believe her.” He then said to her opponent:
“But you did things just as bad in other areas in this case, so you’re just as dirty too. And it seems like you’re using the courts as a way to fight your battle, when there’s no battle to be fought. Because you’re, you’re two pigs in the trough, fighting with each other, and I don’t want to deal with that because you guys are not credible to me. You’re both dirty, okay.”
He told the plaintiff:
“I’m not saying you’re a jerk, Mr. Kim, but if the shoe fits, if you know what I mean.”
Five Matters
The admonishment is divided into seven parts, with the seventh section reciting Griego’s conduct in five unrelated matters on Nov. 30, 2023. The CJP concluded:
“The commission found that Judge Griego’s conduct, as described herein, was not momentary or isolated, but rather, reflected a pattern of intemperate behavior toward self-represented litigants. The commission observed that, though it is appropriate for a judge to exercise control over court proceedings, assess the credibility of evidence, and communicate sophisticated legal concepts to laypersons in ‘plain speak,’ it is improper to do so in a way that is discourteous and impolite, especially when dealing with self-represented parties. The commission also expressed criticism of the judge’s practice of insisting that litigants insert an honorific into statements where no personal address was necessary.”
In one of those five matters, he told the defendant that an adverse judgment in a small claims case is “kind of similar to a, you know, a felony, uh, you know, conviction on a criminal matter.”
‘Thursday Answers’
The commission noted Griego’s insistence on parties providing what he calls “Thursday answers.” He’s quoted as admonishing parties on April 20, 2023:
“Okay, you guys, I’m gonna do this really quick. I’m asking you a Thursday question, okay. [Judicial assistant] Ms. [Tonsha] Kelley tells this to everybody—she tells you, ‘When the judge asks you a specific question, you answer, Thursday answer.’ You don’t get Thursday, Friday, and Saturday answers. You know what that means, right? If I ask you, ‘What day is it today, Ms. Lo,’ you tell me, ‘It’s Thursday, Your Honor.’ You don’t give me all this other superfluous stuff. I gotta hear cases, okay? Please. I know you’re not an expert, but please, give me Thursday answers. If I ask to explain, well then I’m opening up the door. Okay but when I ask you a Thursday question, you give me a Thursday answer. Don’t give me Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I can’t stand that. It’s—it just—bogs up the calendar, okay.”
After reciting occurrences at a June 26, 2023 proceeding, the CJP remarked:
“The commission determined that Judge Griego’s conduct, including raising his voice; admonishing an audience member about cell phone use by saying, ‘Jeez, man, that is so rude’ and ‘You’re in a court of law, for God’s sake’; correcting a plaintiff who answered ‘Yes’ rather than ‘Yes, Your Honor’; saying that reading text messages employing profanity caused the judge to have a ‘totally different interpretation’ about a (female) plaintiff; and calling the defendant a ‘funny man,’ was discourteous, gratuitous, and conveyed the appearance of bias.”
Prior Discipline
The commission noted:
“In determining to issue this public admonishment, the commission considered Judge Griego’s prior discipline to be an aggravating factor. In 2017, Judge Griego received an advisory letter for independently investigating a traffic accident scene, failing to timely disclose his receipt of ex parte information, and failing to disqualify himself.”
Six members of the commission, including Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench, voted in favor of a public admonishment, and three members did not participate. There are two vacancies.
Gains Election
Griego was elected to the Superior Court on Nov. 4, 2014, defeating criminal defense lawyer Andrew M. Stein in a run-off, and taking office the following Jan. 5.
He was unsuccessful in a 2010 race, losing in a run-off to Alan K. Schneider. In that contest, he was listed on the ballot as a “Criminal Prosecutor” although he was a deputy Los Angeles city attorney who was handling civil cases and had not been assigned to a prosecution since 1997.
His law degree is from Whittier College, which no longer exists.
Griego is up for reelection in 2026.
All 25 comments on Griego appearing on the Robing Room website over a period of the past five years are negative.
A civil attorney wrote on May 15:
“Abhorrent judge. Lacks both intellect and compassion. Demeans and is condescending to unrepresented parties, and is threatened by attorneys of superior intelligence (of which there are many) who appear before him. Unfit for the bench.” A court staff member on Feb. 15, 2023 said:
“Please take the time to file a complaint against this inept judge https://cjp.ca.gov/file a complaint/. He needs to be removed from the bench….He yelled at everyone, attempting to intimidate them....”
A litigant on Jan. 19, 2023 commented:
“Judge Griego does not have both oars in the water, and his behavior should be an embarrassment to this court and judges everywhere.
“My case centered around receiving defective and unusable (but expensive) goods from the defendant. As she responded to my complaint, she mentioned her mother has cancer and started to cry crocodile tears. Griego asked me if I believed the defendant’s mother had cancer. I responded ‘I don’t know your honor’. He then yelled at me ‘YOU DON’T BELIEVE HER MOTHER HAS CANCER?? WHO WOULD LIE ABOUT THEIR MOTHER HAVING CANCER??’ And then he promptly dismissed the hearing, told us to leave without examining the physical evidence or allowing me to respond to the defendant’s accusations….
“This 10 minute hearing was bizarre, disorienting and frankly, crazy. Talk about miscarriage of justice! His question was ludicrous and irrelevant to my case, and his ruling unfair, unjust and plain stupid.”
A civil practitioner on July 22, 2019 posted:
“Judge Thomas (Tom) Griego must be one of the most incompetent judges in Los Angeles Superior Court. Watched him interrupt plaintiffs and defendants in small claims court, and ask questions unrelated to the cases over and over again.
“After a few hours, he got more and more impatient. If a fact confused him about the case, he would blame whoever submitted the evidence, and end the case quickly.”
A court staff member on March 27, 2019, remarked:
“Unable to focus on Small Claims cases. He gets lost during the presentation of the cases. He then gets mad because he gets mixed up and blames it on the party. He will not allow you to speak or rebut if he doesn’t feel like it. Very unfair.”
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