A controversial disciplinary complaint filed against a presiding judge for allowing his secretary to work remotely has been dismissed by the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Douglas H. Hurd, the Mercer County Superior Court presiding judge of the Civil Division, was alleged to have violated three cannons of the Code of Judicial Conduct by allowing his secretary to work from home in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the complaint was initially filed with the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, a September order issued by the New Jersey Supreme Court stopped those proceedings, and the high court took on the case.

On Wednesday, the court unanimously dismissed the charges against Hurd. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner signed the order, which said the court found no violations of the CJC and exercised its discretion to dismiss the disciplinary complaint. The court published the documents early Thursday afternoon.

Sources who spoke with the Law Journal said it was very rare for the high court to take a case from the ACJC before the disciplinary body had made a ruling.

The move was welcomed news for practitioners in the area.

Peter F. Bariso Jr., a retired assignment judge of the Hudson Vicinage currently counsel with Chasan Lamparello Mallon & Cappuzzo in Secaucus, told the Law Journal he was relieved that the charges against Hurd were dismissed.

"When I first read this complaint, it really made me cringe," Bariso said. "I worked with Judge Hurd on the Conference of Civil Presiding Judges and on New Jersey Supreme Court committees, and I cannot believe this is the person they went after. The Supreme Court decision really came at the right time and was a needed breath of fresh air to the members of the judiciary. At the time of the complaint, it unfortunately gave credence to a pervasive feeling within the judiciary that judges lacked support in Trenton."

New Jersey State Bar Association President William H. Mergner Jr. of Leary, Bride, Mergner & Bongiovanni also lauded the high court and Hurd, who he said had a reptation for hard work and integrity.

"On behalf of the State Bar, I commend the Supreme Court for recognizing and vindicating Judge Hurd's impeccable reputation," Mergner said.

Initially filed Jan. 30, the complaint against Hurd was criticized by some as overreaching.

In a brief to the Supreme Court, Hurd's counsel, Thomas P. Scrivo, managing partner of O'Toole Scrivo in Cedar Grove, argued that his client was unaware that judges did not have the power to grant a request for an employee to work remotely. Once the assignment judge, Robert T. Lougy, notified Hurd of the alleged policy violation, he immediately informed the employee she had to return to work at the courthouse, the brief said.

The brief also noted that Lougy did not refer the matter to the ACJC and called it a "management disagreement."

The complaint alleged that Hurd falsified time sheets, which said that his secretary was working in chambers on days she was not at the courthouse.

"At the outset, this matter began as an investigation into much more serious allegations, whether respondent violated certain judicial cannons based on the falsification of timekeeping records," Hurd's brief to the court said.

However, the brief said that the investigation revealed that civil division staff, not judges, approve time sheets.

In a conversation with the Law Journal, Craig J. Hubert, co-managing partner of Szaferman, Lakind, Blumstein & Blader in Lawrenceville, said he was happy to hear that the matter had been dismissed.

"I thank our Supreme Court for getting it right by looking at this case, which is very important to the residents of Mercer County and lawyers," Hubert said. "I imagine that not only is Judge Hurd relieved to have this unfortunate matter behind him, but the entire bar of Mercer County is likely relieved."

Hubert added that in spite of this disciplinary matter, Hurd continued to put in more than a full day on the bench.

"He did his best to continue working to the fullest extent that not only the judiciary would expect, but what the bar would hope for," Hubert said.

Michael Donahue, managing shareholder of Stark & Stark in Hamilton, also told the Law Journal that Hurd is a tremendous asset to the Mercer County judiciary and has been a phenomenal presiding and trial judge.

"For someone who had an unblemished reputation in my eyes, he has dealt with this issue over time and kept his head up and the vicinage running," Donahue said. "I am incredibly relieved and gratified to hear the news that the New Jersey Supreme Court has seen the right side of this issue and rectified what has been going on for the last several months."

Donahue added that, as Mercer County navigates the ongoing judicial vacancy crisis, Hurd and Judge R. Brian McLaughlin are "holding the vicinage together for civil trials."

Since the complaint was filed, the judiciary's policy on remote work has changed. An April order issued by the court modified a policy that allowed law clerks to work remotely. The next day, acting Administrative Director of the Courts Glenn Grant announced that law clerks and secretaries would be allowed to work remotely up to four days per month, subject to judicial approval.