By KENNETH OFGANG
Staff Writer

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patrick B. Murphy, accused of being derelict in his duties by missing more than 500 days of work over a four-year period, has accused the Commission on Judicial Performance of violating employment discrimination laws.

In his formal response to the commission, which was filed Thursday, Murphy argues that the charges violate Art. I, Sec. 8 of the state Constitution, which prohibit discrimination based on sex, race, creed, color, or national or ethnic origin.

Murphy did not indicate which of those categories might apply to him.

He also claimed violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the workers' compensation law, and the Americans With Disabilities Act. FEHA bars discrimination on the bases set forth in Sec. 8, or on the basis of age, disability, or sexual orientation.

The judge has claimed in the past that he was unable to work due to cardiac- and stress-related problems, but did has not applied for disability retirement.

Attorney James Friedhofer filed the response on Murphy's behalf. Neither Friedhofer nor Murphy could be reached for comment Friday.

Friedhofer, a San Diego-based partner in the firm of Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard, is regarded as an expert on the commission and its procedures.

His previous clients have included former Tulare Superior Court Judge Howard Broadman, San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Fred Heene, Riverside Superior Court Judge Christopher Sheldon, Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Bruce Dodds, and Monterey County Municipal Court Judge Jose Angel Velasquez.

Murphy's counsel in his previous dealings with the commission was an Orange County lawyer, Eugene Moses.

The judge acknowledged in his filing that he has had "significant periods of absence" from the bench, although he said he doesn't have sufficient memory or records to ascertain the actual number of days.

Murphy admitted that he was continually absent from September of last year to April 3, when he took up a new assignment hearing traffic cases at the Metropolitan Court on Hill Street in Los Angeles. But he said the commission had failed to differentiate between unacceptable reasons for absence and those which are legitimate, such as "family emergency, professional activities elsewhere, educational programs, illness [and] disability."

Murphy did not specify which of those reasons covered his own absences. Records obtained by reporters appear to indicate that he enrolled briefly at a medical school on the Caribbean island of Dominica, and at Cleveland College of Chiropractic in Los Angeles, while away from the bench.

The judge raised several objections which other judges have broached unsuccessfully in the past, claiming that the commission violates due process by investigating, prosecuting, and judging the charges; that it unfairly asserts a "work product" privilege which it denies to the accused; and that the presence of a non-lawyer majority among the 11 commissioners violates the separation of powers.