State Fires Workers’ Comp Judge Accused of Molesting Lawyer

A veteran workers’ compensation judge arrested on charges of sexually molesting a female lawyer in his Van Nuys chambers has been ordered fired by state officials, authorities confirmed Monday.

The termination of Judge Stanley Samuel Feinstein, 61, was issued April 20 by the state Department of Industrial Relations. It was backdated to become effective April 4, the day he was placed on a paid administrative leave of absence.

On the same day the firing was confirmed, Feinstein was ordered released on his own recognizance after pleading not guilty to felony criminal charges that he fondled the attorney during a March 28 visit to his office.

State officials said Feinstein is the only state workers’ compensation judge in recent memory to be fired in connection with alleged criminal activity. There are about 175 such judges in the state at any given time, appointed through the civil service system.

“He has been dismissed, for willful disobedience, insubordination and bringing discredit to the agency, all based on his refusal to cooperate with our internal investigation and to answer questions,” said Richard Stephens, spokesman for the department’s Division of Workers’ Compensation.

“We can only think of one other case in recent years where a judge resigned under pressure. We don’t know of anyone else who has been dismissed.”

Stephens said Feinstein’s dismissal was based on the judge’s refusal to answer a department investigator’s questions about the alleged molestation during an interview April 15 at his lawyer’s office.

Feinstein’s firing was unfair, his lawyer said, because he was only asking that his questioning in the administrative case be postponed until after disposition of the criminal charges.

“Even though he is innocent, he didn’t want to compromise his rights in the criminal case,” said lawyer Philip Israels. “We said we’d cooperate fully, but to let us take care of the criminal matter first.”

“He was not terminated for assaulting (the lawyer),” Israels said. “He was terminated for not answering questions.”

Feinstein has not yet decided whether to appeal his termination, Israels said. In the meantime, the state’s administrative investigation into his activities will continue, according to state officials.

“We’re still trying to gather whatever information we can until it’s over with,” said Stephens.

At the Monday arraignment hearing in a Downtown courthouse, Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol Straughn asked that Feinstein’s bail be continued at $15,000. But Municipal Judge L. Jeffrey Wiatt found that the workers’ compensation judge, who was allowed to turn himself into police earlier this month after an arrest warrant was issued, was not a flight risk or a threat to the community.

“This guy has been on the bench for 22 years, and raised his family here in California,” said Israels. “He’s not going anywhere.”

Feinstein, who had no comment during the brief court hearing, has denied molesting or fondling the attorney. The alleged victim said in a recent interview with The Times that she was so upset that she couldn’t return to full-time work.

The Times has a policy of not identifying alleged victims in sexual molestation cases.

Authorities say they have gathered corroborating evidence that Feinstein admitted to the alleged victim that the molestation took place, and that he was sorry it happened. But Israels said anything Feinstein might have said to the victim must be taken in the context of a man being accused of something he did not do.

“Someone who is accused of sexual misconduct is apt to say anything to placate his accuser,” Israels said. “Stanley Feinstein didn’t assault (the lawyer) in any way, sexually or otherwise. He is innocent and we expect him to be completely cleared of these charges.”

The 40-year-old lawyer alleges that Feinstein prevented her from leaving his chambers by pushing her against a wall, and then grabbed her breast and kissed her. The complaint alleges that Feinstein unlawfully restrained and touched her for “the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification and sexual abuse.”

Feinstein, who worked out of the State Office Building in the Van Nuys Government Center, entered his plea in Los Angeles Municipal Court to single counts of sexual battery by restraint and false imprisonment by violence.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of four years on the sexual battery charge and three years on the false imprisonment by violence charge.