LAWYER WHO HURLED RACIST ABUSE CRITICIZED BY JUDGES
An immigrant-bashing New York City lawyer whose 2018 foulmouthed racist tirade at a Midtown restaurant went viral was given a public dressing-down in an appeals court decision issued Tuesday.
Aaron Schlossberg’s vicious May 2018 verbal attack directed at workers at a Fresh Kitchen on Madison Ave. earned him the press nickname “Racist Lawyer,” and proved even more troubling for his career. Multiple charges for the outrageous incident were filed by the state’s Attorney Grievance Committee in June.
The AGC, responsible for disciplining attorneys of the bar association, charged Schlossberg with engaging in off-the-job behavior “so offensive as to rise to the level of professional misconduct,” court docs show.
During his xenophobic outburst, Schlossberg, 44, threatened to call immigration enforcement authorities on employees in the fast-casual eatery because they spoke Spanish.
“My guess is they’re not documented, so my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country,” Schlossberg was captured on video saying.
“If they have the balls to come here and live off my money. I pay for their welfare. I pay for their ability to be here. The least they can do — the least they can do — is speak English.”
In its decision issued by the First Department, Appellate Division, four judges scolded Schlossberg for his appalling actions inside the restaurant and agreed public censure was an appropriate sanction by AGC.
The court pointed to Schlossberg’s clean record as a lawyer and his highly publicized shaming. That Schlossberg’s commercial landlord evicted him in the viral video’s fallout, and his business associate cut ties, were also examples of time served, the court wrote.
Not to mention “public denunciation by some of his clients, and a
crowd-funded Mariachi band playing outside his apartment house,” the decision stated.
The lawyer mounted no defense against charges he engaged in conduct that raised serious questions over his fitness as a lawyer, as the ACG charged. Schlossberg also agreed with the decision to be publicly rebuked.
The appellate court also moved to seal Schlossberg’s ugly record. “Under the circumstances, and particularly in view of the threats against respondent that are documented on the record, we find it appropriate to grant respondent’s cross motion to seal the recording of the subject,” the ruling states.
Neither Schlossberg or his lawyer responded to the Daily News’ requests for comment.