#Family court judge resigns for asking female staffer about ‘three-way’

A New York family court judge resigned Monday for asking a female court staffer whether “she knew how to do a three-way” before forcibly kissing her, ethics officials said.

Disgraced Onondaga Family Court Jurist Michael Hanuszczak was charged by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct with “uninvited, unwelcome kissing and otherwise inappropriate behavior toward two female court staff,” wrote commission administrator Robert Tembeckjian in a statement.

During a subsequent hearing, the charges were substantiated, prompting Hanuszczak’s resignation and agreement to never seek or hold judicial office again, authorities said.

A female employee who was assigned to the judge’s court from 2014 to 2017 lodged a complaint in March 2019.

Hanuszczak, 64, had repeatedly asked the married woman to join him for dinner, an invitation she declined, and chatted with her about his dating life, according to the ethics complaint.

The woman was setting up conference equipment in 2016 when the judge, “while watching her and laughing, asked whether she ‘knew how to do a three-way,’” the papers state.

A month later, the woman was transferred to another court. Before she left, Hanuszczak asked her to come to his chambers, and she showed up with a female friend, who worked in the court’s treatment part.

He told the friend to wait outside then put his hands on the woman’s shoulders, kissed her on the cheek and stated, “No one knows me like you do, not even my wife…you anticipate my every need,” according to the papers.

On her way out the door, he handed her a potted orchid and “kissed her again, near her mouth, without her consent,” the filing alleges.

The judge had also behaved inappropriately with the woman’s friend with whom he had worked since 2011. He expressed interest in dating her for years but cautioned that “any relationship would need to be discreet,” the papers say.

In 2016, after the woman told Hanuszczak that her father was ill with cancer, he entered her office, presented her with an orchid and kissed her on the cheek, the complaint charges.

“Obviously, a judge should not initiate unwelcome kissing of court staff or propose ‘discreet’ dating to a subordinate,” said Tembeckjian in a statement. “Had he not resigned, my office would have recommended Judge Hanuszczak’s removal for such disreputable behavior.”

Hanuszczak’s attorney, Robert Julian, said his client had served nearly 20 years on the bench.

“He has worked vigorously to achieve justice,” the lawyer said. “He regrets the mistakes he has made and his resignation is offered in that spirit.”