Attorney Glenn Robinson’s office in Newport. Photo by Dan Schwartz/VTDigger
Glenn Robinson allegedly violated a conflict of interest rule in a romantic relationship he had with a woman he represented in a divorce case, according to an 11-page petition.
In addition, Robinson, 54, is accused of sexually harassing two women he employed.
On May 22, a review panel determined there was probable cause to believe Robinson committed five violations of the professional rules of conduct for lawyers. The charges, filed with the Vermont Professional Responsibility Board, involve three different women. The board regulates the legal profession on behalf of the Vermont Supreme Court.
Disciplinary action could range from a private or public reprimand to temporary suspension of a law license, to disbarment, which prohibits an attorney from practicing law for five years.
Robinson denies the allegations, and, in a statement released by his attorney, claims the relationships he had with all three women were “completely consensual.”
Robinson has practiced law since 2000 and is the stepson of former Vermont Attorney General M. Jerome Diamond, and a former lawyer with his stepfather’s firm, Diamond and Robinson in Montpelier. He is the step brother of Josh Diamond, who is the newly appointed deputy attorney general under TJ Donovan who took office in January. Donovan declined to prosecute the Robinson case in 2013 when he served as Chittenden County State’s Attorney.
Glenn Robinson PC logo from Facebook
The next step in the Vermont Professional Responsibility Board process is a hearing before a three-member panel of two attorneys and one non-lawyer. If after a hearing Robinson is found to have violated professional conduct rules, he could face sanctions. The panel’s decision then can go before the Vermont Supreme Court for review.
The petition of misconduct, the document that formally charges Robinson with license violations, alleges that Robinson violated multiple professional conduct rules between 2010 and 2013.
Documents cite interviews with Detective Lance Burnham of the Vermont State Police conducted in 2013.
The allegations
According to the petition, one woman who worked as Robinson’s assistant for about a year, beginning in early 2012, told police that Robinson subjected her to offensive conduct of a sexual nature, including masturbating in front of her while she was at work. The petition alleges she received paychecks at irregular intervals, between four and seven weeks apart.
Robinson didn’t deny that he masturbated in front of her at his office, but claimed that she had danced in front of him with her breasts exposed and led him on, according to the affidavit. He also said he and the woman had dated.
Robinson told the investigator that his brother, who is also an attorney, drew up a contract setting the terms of the romantic relationship with the woman. In the document, she waived the right to pursue sexual harassment or gender discrimination claims against her employer.
The woman, who had mental health issues that were known to Robinson, claimed she was rushed and “coerced” into signing the contract, according to the petition. Robinson countered that she had adequate time to review it. The board petition alleges that Robinson took advantage of the woman, who was not represented by a lawyer.
Another woman named in the petition first met Robinson when he began representing her in criminal matters in 2003 over the course of a decade without charge. Robinson frequently reminded her that she was indebted to him, and he told the woman that the court wanted her to “do 15 years,” but he had “saved” her, according to the petition. Robinson began employing her in his law office in early 2013, after she was released from prison, documents show.
According to the petition, Robinson warned the woman that he had told the “judge and Probation & Parole” that he would “keep track of her.” Because of that pledge, Robinson insisted that he needed to be with her at all times when she was working in the office, documents show.
She alleges that Robinson subjected her to unwanted sexual behavior in his office, including repeated instances in which he masturbated in front of her, sometimes with her on his lap, the petition says.
Robinson told her about an incident in which he had “sex with a client and her friend on the office conference room table,” documents show. He also characterized her boyfriend as a “loser,” according to the petition.
In a deposition, the woman testified that on one occasion Robinson asked her to bring her 11-
year-old daughter to have lunch at the law office. The child was asked to leave the room when Robinson asked to talk to her mother, documents show. The affidavit quotes the woman saying that Robinson “pushed me up against the desk and started groping me. And I was telling him, you know (child’s name) is here and she could walk in any minute.” At that point, Robinson started masturbating, according to the petition.
Robinson admitted to investigators that he stimulated himself in front of the woman, but, as with the previous case, he said the woman led him on. He alleged that she “would pull off her clothes to excite me and that on a couple of occasions that resulted in me having an orgasm in my pants.”
A third charge against Robinson is related to a relationship he allegedly had for more than a year with a woman he represented in a divorce case. The woman lived in a trailer and was raising five children. According to the petition, Robinson told her she was “the only woman he had ever loved.”
The relationship lasted from early 2011 until June 2012, when Robinson ended it shortly after the divorce proceedings concluded, documents show.
Through the course of the relationship, Robinson allegedly told the woman he would provide for her and allow her to live in his condominium without charge. She agreed to the terms of the divorce offered by the opposing counsel in part with that expectation, according to the petition. She had borrowed money, cashed out a retirement account and decided not to press for child support payments because she believed Robinson would support her, documents show.
She filed a complaint about Robinson’s conduct in February 2013, according to the petition.
When she was asked by Robinson’s attorney why she filed the conduct complaint, she responded that Robinson “used” her.
“He made me promises, and he never followed through,” she told investigators. “Even with the child support, the spousal maintenance, the everything. Nothing. He said he would take care of everything and he took care of nothing.”
The petition alleges he violated a conflict of interest rule in his relationship with the woman.
Robinson denies allegations
Robinson denied all of the allegations against him, speaking through his attorney Scott McGee, in a statement released last week.
“All allegations are more than four years old and all alleged conduct was completely consensual,” the statement said. “He asks that no judgment be made until the allegations have been adjudicated through a hearing process.”
Robinson continues to practice law, according to the statement. He “looks forward” to addressing the allegations at a hearing, the next step in the disciplinary case process.
McGee said Robinson is not under criminal investigation.
According to an affidavit from the prosecuting attorney in the professional misconduct case, a Vermont State Police investigator conducted interviews with several people concerning Robinson’s conduct. In July 2013, the investigator submitted a report to the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s office, which decided not to prosecute it.
Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan, who headed the Chittenden County state’s attorney’s office at the time, said Saturday that he referred the case to the special investigations unit in Chittenden County, and after further review, declined to prosecute it. Donovan said it was unclear why the case was referred to his office four years ago.
“We weren’t convinced we would satisfy our evidentiary burden,” Donovan said.
Donovan said he does not know Robinson, and Robinson’s family connections played no role in the decision to drop the case.
Review took four years
Attorney David Sleigh represented one of the women named in the misconduct petition in a criminal case in which she was accused of embezzling funds from Robinson. The case was later dropped.
The resolution of the Robinson misconduct complaint has taken four years. Sleigh said the proceedings have been “protracted and lengthy and unjustified” and reflects poorly on the Professional Responsibility Board.
Jan Eastman, chair of the Professional Responsibility Board, said the case is “a rare circumstance.” She’s restricted in what she can say about the case.
Many claims regarding misconduct are resolved at an earlier stage in the process before getting to a hearing, which is the next step in the Robinson case, she said.
Eastman, who has served on the board for about a decade, said she believes Vermont’s system for dealing with misconduct functions well.
This case was in part delayed by a change in personnel last year, when the staff charged with investigating claims of misconduct left the post and it remained vacant for several months, she said. The board assigned some cases, including the Robinson case, to outside attorneys until a new disciplinary prosecutor could be brought on board. That position was filled in April, she said.
“I’m not happy with the amount of time it’s taken, but I believe the process is going the way it needs to go … to protect the public,” Eastman said. “I think it’s better to come to an appropriate resolution, if it takes longer, than to have short-changed something.”
She said the case is not typical for the board. In general, she believes the board does a good job of trying to deal with attorneys before serious issues arise. When there are problems, the board does a good job dealing with them, she said.
“Some of them are complicated and take a lot of time,” she said.
The post Newport attorney faces complaint over sexual harassment charges appeared first on VTDigger.