Connecticut's top public defender fired for alleged misconduct by oversight commission

June 4, 2024 7:50 p.m. • Last updated: June 4, 2024 7:50 p.m.

FILE – Connecticut Chief Public Defender Tashun Bowden-Lewis addresses a group of supporters before a hearing at the legislative office in Hartford, Conn., April 16, 2024, on whether she should keep her job amid allegations of misbehavior. An oversight board fired Bowden-Lewis on Tuesday, June 4, after accusing her of a range of misconduct, including unfounded allegations of racism, mistreatment of employees and inappropriate access to emails of staff and the president of the Commission. (AP Photo/Susan Haigh, file)

Hartford — An oversight board fired Connecticut's top public defender Tuesday after accusing her of various misconduct, including unfounded allegations of racism, mistreatment of employees and inappropriate access to emails of staff and the president of the commission.

The firing of TaShun Bowden-Lewis, the first Black person to serve as the state's chief public defender, was achieved by a unanimous vote of the Public Defender Services Commission in Hartford. The panel held two public meetings in April in which Bowden-Lewis denied 16 allegations of misconduct and accused the panel of interfering with his legal authority to run the office.

“Ms. Bowden-Lewis, we recognize that this is a very difficult time for everyone, including you, the division and the commission,” commission Chairman Richard Palmer said after the panel's vote. “When this commission was appointed, we began with great hope for the future and I neither expected nor wanted to be here today. The commission sincerely hopes that there will be better days ahead for you and for the division.

Bowden-Lewis, hired two years ago, attended the meeting with her attorney, Thomas Bucci. She declined to comment after the vote.

Bucci, a former Bridgeport mayor, later told The Associated Press that Bowden-Lewis planned to appeal what he called an “unlawful dismissal.”

“This was a biased, unfair process designed to remove a very capable and competent director who protected the integrity of the institution,” Bucci said in a telephone interview.

Bowden-Lewis previously said the commission scrutinized her far more than her predecessors and interfered with the authority given to her by state law. She also said an independent review by a law firm into her actions found she did not discriminate, harass or create a hostile work environment, although Palmer questioned his interpretation of the findings.

Dozens of Bowden-Lewis supporters attended a hearing on April 16 and said she should not be fired.

The commission reprimanded Bowden-Lewis in October for alleged “inappropriate and unacceptable” conduct and placed her on paid administrative leave in February, the same day the public defenders union voted 121-9 to express defiance in her leadership. The reprimand included nine directives to Bowden-Lewis, some of which were not followed, the commission said.

The union said in a statement Tuesday that it supported the commission's decision to fire Bowden-Lewis and that the past two years had been marked by “controversy and dysfunction.”

The commission alleged that Bowden-Lewis created a work environment marked by fear and retaliation and made baseless allegations of racial discrimination against those who disagreed with her, including employees and Palmer, a retired state Supreme Court justice.

Bowden-Lewis was also accused of mistreating employees, refusing to recognize the commission's authority, ignoring its directives, and inappropriately directing a subordinate to search employees' and Palmer's emails without their knowledge.

Even though the chief public defender can review employees' emails without their knowledge, that can only be done for a valid reason, and Bowden-Lewis didn't have one, according to Palmer. Bowden-Lewis said in April that the public defender's office policy allowed her to search any employee's email and that no reason was required, a response some commission members seemed to disagree with .

Palmer said Bowden-Lewis obtained emails between him and the commission's legal counsel earlier this year, when the commission was investigating allegations of misconduct by Bowden-Lewis. He said those emails were potentially confidential and privileged for legal reasons.

Bowden-Lewis was also accused of reprimanding the legal counsel without good reason, in apparent retaliation for the council's cooperation with and disloyalty to the commission, a notice of allegations issued to Bowden-Lewis states. The commission later withdrew its reprimand against the legal advisor.

In one of the first public signs of acrimony between Bowden-Lewis and the commission, four of the panel's five members resigned early last year after Bowden-Lewis made allegations of racism and threatened litigation judicial for the commission's rejection of its choice in terms of human resources. director, The Hartford Courant reported.

The public defender's office has more than 400 employees, including attorneys, investigators, social workers and other personnel who serve low-income people who cannot afford an attorney in criminal cases and others.

Bowden-Lewis recently won a local award from a statewide lawyers' group for fostering the inclusion and advancement of lawyers of color.