Ohio Judge Files EEOC Complaint Alleging Racial Discrimination

by Daniel Johnson

July 8, 2024

Judge Kimberly Cocroft only filed an EEOC complaint after her calls for an investigation into a complaint filed against her were met with silence.

Kimberly Cocroft, a Black Franklin County, Ohio, judge, has filed a federal complaint against fellow judges in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, alleging that she and her staff received discriminatory treatment due to their race and gender. Cocroft is one of only two Black women and three Black judges currently serving on the court. 

According to NBC 4, Cocroft was elected by the other 17 judges to serve as the court’s administrative judge. This position dictated that she oversee the court’s policies and implement programs or initiatives that are deemed necessary. Cocroft was the first female judge ever elected to the administrative judge position in Franklin County.

The substance of her complaint, however, deals primarily with what Cocroft alleges she was told by two white male judges shortly before taking office. Cocroft recounted a dispute over an ex-employee. “They initially came to inquire about why that employee was no longer working for me, and for me, it was a personnel matter. Then it transitioned into a conversation about me,” she said in the complaint.

Cocroft told The Columbus Dispatch on July 1 that judges shared their perception of her as “unapproachable,” “aggressive,” and “not particularly friendly.” She alleges that these individuals advised her to emulate the demeanor of other respected Black figures within the community and the judiciary.

Cocroft continued, “I said to both of them, ‘You don’t have the right in all your paternalism and privilege to come into my office and give me a list of Black women I should be more like.’ You would not accept me coming to your office with a list of white men you should try and emulate.”

In 2021, Cocroft endeavored to hire all Black staffers, and according to her complaint, when she did, those employees received different treatment from her hires before 2021. “I thought what’s the harm, I’ll get the most competent person,” Cocroft told The Dispatch. “I could see the difference between how they were being trained and how my prior staff had been trained.”

Cocroft claims there was a blackmail attempt against her in 2022, stating that a judge informed her about a complaint filed by the court’s administrator, as reported by The Dispatch. “The judge said, ‘It’s really serious, she’s lawyered up, but if you will resign as administrative judge for 2023, then this complaint will go away’,” Cocroft said. “He kept emphasizing that she had lawyered up.” Cocroft alleges that the efforts to have her resign felt like a blackmail scheme. 

According to the administrator’s complaint concerning the judge, Cocroft allegedly had five staff members resign or fired. It was alleged that she told staff members who cried during meetings that she could not afford that luxury as a Black woman. The complaint also accuses Cocroft of repeatedly asserting that many of the judges they work with are racist and insensitive.

Cocroft only filed a complaint with the EEOC after her calls for an investigation into the complaint filed against her were met with silence. “It just confirmed my belief that there’s something illegal, discriminatory, unfair, hostile and retaliatory happening,” Cocroft told The Dispatch. “I had always believed there was a racial or gender-based element to the challenges I faced.”

Cocroft is also seeking a public apology in addition to the investigation she wants conducted. 

“It’s documented that the issues that have been raised with performance by my staff and me have not been raised with white judges or their white staffs,” Cocroft told The Dispatch. “For me, this is not a personality conflict, this is an intentional decision to use processes to unfairly malign my professional reputation. It moves beyond personality when you start to weaponize race.”

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