Where Is Seigfried?

A reciprocal public censure based on a Virginia sanction of an attorney for misconduct while admitted pro hac vice in Nevada was imposed by the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department

The respondent and local counsel filed a sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of Oliver Preiss and Beatrice Preiss. The lawsuit alleged that Roy Horn, a Las Vegas entertainer, sexually harassed Oliver Preiss, who was Horn’s assistant at the time. The lawsuit also alleged that Horn terminated Oliver Preiss’s employment when he refused to accede to Horn’s advances. A claim on behalf of Beatrice Preiss alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress was also included in the complaint. In addition, the respondent and local counsel filed an employment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 USC, ch 21, § 2000e et seq.) against S&R Production Company, which was found never to have employed Oliver Preiss.

The lawsuit was initially filed in Nevada state court and later removed to the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Horn thereafter filed a motion to dismiss, which was granted. Horn’s attorneys subsequently filed a motion for attorneys’ fees. In the sanctions order, United States District Judge Roger L. Hunt granted the motion for attorney’s fees, sanctioned the respondent and local counsel, and awarded attorneys’ fees in the amount of $37,415 (see Preiss v S&R Prod. Co., 2011 WL 4402952, 2011 US Dist LEXIS 107244).

In the sanctions order, Judge Hunt found that the respondent’s actions in opposing the motion to dismiss wasted the District Court’s time since the claims were “not simply without merit but blatantly and undeniably so” (2011 WL 4402952, *2, 2011 US Dist LEXIS 107244, *5). Judge Hunt characterized the respondent’s defense of Beatrice Preiss’s negligent infliction of emotional distress claim as “absurd” and “frivolous” (2011 WL 4402952, *2, 2011 US Dist LEXIS 107244, *5). With regard to S&R Production Company, Judge Hunt found that the prosecution of claims against an entity that never employed Oliver Preiss “needlessly, unreasonably, and vexatiously multiplied the proceedings in bad faith” (2011 WL 4402952, *3, 2011 US Dist LEXIS 107244, *7). Prior to the court’s ruling on the motion to dismiss, the respondent and local counsel filed a motion to remand. Judge Hunt found this motion to be a vain attempt to deprive the court of jurisdiction to rule on the motion to dismiss. The arguments the respondent raised in support of the motion to remand were found by Judge Hunt to be “frivolous and recklessly unfounded” (2011 WL 4402952, *3, 2011 US Dist LEXIS 107244, *9)

He initially denied misconduct in the Virginia proceeding but then entered into an agreed disposition for a 30-day suspension.

Here

Based on the foregoing, we find that the imposition of reciprocal discipline is warranted based on the findings of the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board. In view of the respondent’s unblemished disciplinary history, the isolated nature of the incident, and the relatively limited period of suspension imposed in Virginia, we conclude that the appropriate sanction is a public censure.

(Mike Frisch)