A petition has been submitted to James C. Duff, Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, requesting an investigation into potentially impeachable offenses committed by the Hon. Helen "Ginger" Berrigan, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, in connection with her adjudication of cases from 1995 to 2001 with Tulane University as Defendant and Carl Bernofsky as Plaintiff.
Berrigan, a President of Louisiana's American Civil Liberties Union prior to being nominated for the district judgeship by President Bill Clinton in 1993, was a Board Member of Tulane's Amistad Research Center and an Adjunct Professor in Tulane's Law School at the time she assumed jurisdiction of Bernofsky's lawsuits, concealing that affiliation from Plaintiff when he sued in 1995 for wrongful termination after nearly 20 years on the faculty of Tulane's Medical School.
In 2000, Bernofsky learned of Berrigan's association with Defendant and that she was paid $5,500 to teach a summer course on the Greek Isle of Thessaloniki. In a letter demanding her recusal, Bernofsky wrote: "Your open affiliation with the defendant and deception regarding this ongoing relationship is incompatible with even the most remote appearance of impartiality...".
Berrigan remained adamant in her refusal to recuse and went on to dismiss Bernofsky's every cause of action, even in the face of strongly-contested material issues of fact that were properly determined by a jury. She also acted in concert with Tulane to deny Plaintiff a disability benefit to which he was medically eligible (cancer) and entitled through a paid-up policy offered to Tulane faculty and underwritten by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA).
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