‘Stupid, Dumb and Fat’ Comments Get Cleveland Lawyer Suspended
A Cleveland lawyer who has already paid a $300,000 settlement to his former paralegal for insulting her has now been suspended from the practice of law for six months.
WKYC reports that the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct accused Howard Evan Skolnick, a lawyer since 1993, of violating professional conduct rules by “verbally harassing” the woman for more than two years. The board recommended a a six-month suspension to be held in abeyance.
But the Ohio Supreme Court issued a one-year suspension, with six months stayed on the condition that he engage in no further misconduct.
Reporter Phil Trexler wrote” “Court records show he called her “stupid, dumb, fat and `whorey’.” He also lodged insults against the woman’s husband and her mother. Records show Skolnick also sexually harassed the woman and a female co-worker by making a request for a sexual favor while inside a car.”
