Claudia Escoto filed a federal lawsuit alleging that she was subjected to egregious and continual sexual harassment while working as a staff assistant to Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Scott Laurent. Escoto alleged that Laurent described to her, in graphic detail, other judges and employees he wanted to have sex with, or had sex with, and the positions he wished to have sex with them. Laurent discussed in lurid detail the physical attributes of attorneys who came before him and further discussed attraction to and sexual relations with other judges, according to Escoto's 19-page complaint filed against Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice (DOJ). See Escoto v. Garland, Case No. 2:23-cv-03340 (C.D. Ca. filed May 2, 2023).