District attorney sues judge she says invited her to sleep with him at hotel, suit says
Two women, including a district attorney, are accusing a judge of sexually harassing them at the same professional conference attended by colleagues, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Maine.
After District Attorney Natasha Irving, who serves four counties in Maine, introduced herself to the District Judge Charles F. Budd Jr. at the Nashville conference, she says he “sexually propositioned (her) within minutes” by inviting her to sleep with him in his hotel room, a complaint filed Nov. 21 states.
Irving says another male co-worker was present during the interaction, which left her feeling “humiliated and professionally demoralized,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit against Budd was initiated by another woman, Samantha Pike, whose job required her to appear before him in court as a mental health professional, the complaint shows.
Pike accuses Budd of following her to her hotel room at the Nashville conference and telling her “I’m not going to come in unless you invite me in,” according to the complaint. The complaint goes on to cite additional sexual advances Budd made toward Pike.
Irving joined the lawsuit against Budd days after Pike filed it, court records show.
Budd, 53, is suspended from his position as judge, the Bangor Daily News reported. In August, he was put on administrative leave for reasons that weren’t publicly specified.
Laura White, who represents Irving and Pike, told McClatchy News in a statement that it took “tremendous courage” for the women “to come forward.”
“We suspect they are not the only women subjected to this kind of behavior by (Budd),” White added.
Meanwhile, Walter McKee, an attorney representing Budd, told McClatchy News in a statement on Nov. 22 that his client “was astonished to see these allegations” against him and fully denies them.
“District Attorney Irving’s claim is not even actionable,” McKee said. “You can’t sue someone who you met for the first time and who made an alleged inappropriate comment. And for any attorney suing a judge, you sure can’t do it when you have never appeared in front of that judge who allegedly made a single comment.”
The case
Budd is accused of sexually harassing both Pike and Irving at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference in Nashville in late July, according to the complaint. Members of the treatment court team attended this conference.
Prior to his suspension, Budd oversaw the Maine District Court’s Adult Treatment and Recovery Courts, and Pike would appear before him as a program director of an addiction treatment center in Bangor called Wellspring Inc., according to the complaint.
“Judge Budd subjected Mrs. Pike to discrimination based on her sex … including unwelcomed sexual advances, retaliation against her for rejecting those advances, humiliation in front of colleagues, infliction of severe emotional distress, and a pervasive abuse of power that created a hostile work environment,” the complaint states.
For the conference, Budd and Pike stayed at the same hotel where he is accused of making sexual advances toward her, according to the complaint.
After he requested her to invite him into her hotel room, he asked her to have a drink with him at the hotel bar, the complaint says. She felt “cornered” and agreed.
Budd is accused of telling Pike about his “rocky” marriage before divulging that he is “often sexually propositioned by women due to his role as a judge,” the complaint states.
During the conference, Pike says Budd followed her “wherever she went” — prompting fear that he was going to sexually assault her, according to the complaint.
Following the event, Budd told Pike that he was “thinking a lot about our trip to Nashville” and informed her that he was going to be “‘making a lot of changes at home’ and/or in his marriage,” the complaint states.
This exchange pushed Pike to tears and resulted in a colleague, who oversees the treatment court, filing an official complaint regarding Budd, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit goes on to state this colleague was present when Budd “sexually propositioned” Irving at the conference during cocktail hour.
Irving said Budd had a few drinks at the time but was not “inebriated.”
When she told Budd she was staying at a different hotel, Budd is accused of saying, “Well, you can come sleep with me in my room.”
“Based on his position of authority and power as a judge, the comment that Judge Budd made to Ms. Irving was sufficiently severe and pervasive,” the complaint states, adding that the actions he is accused of taking toward both women were “part of a larger pattern of sexual harassment and intentional abuse of power.”
The lawsuit demands a trial by jury and seeks to recover damages.
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 2:04 PM with the headline "District attorney sues judge she says invited her to sleep with him at hotel, suit says."
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