Court reporter files federal complaint against Westmoreland judge

Allegations of sexual harassment by a Westmoreland County judge have been filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The complaint against Common Pleas Court Judge Al Bell was filed this week after the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission refused to consider similar allegations.

Bell's former court reporter, 33-year-old Janel Shapiro, contends she has been harassed by the judge for more than a half decade, and in her filing to the federal agency she submitted a 26-page narrative in which she details allegations of years of inappropriate behavior.

David Millstein, Shapiro's lawyer, said the Human Relations Commission's refusal to accept the harassment complaint was not based upon its allegations.

"The (commission) advised us they do not have jurisdiction over the Pennsylvania legal system," Millstein said.

The federal filing includes more allegations of inappropriate behavior than was contained in the complaint filed with the state agency in March.

Millstein said a review of Shapiro's claims has also been undertaken by the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board, which investigates allegations of ethical misconduct against Pennsylvania judges.

Shapiro no longer works for Bell. In February she took a job as a court reporter for Westmoreland County Judge Richard E. McCormick Jr.

Bell, 63, of Hempfield has denied the allegations leveled by Shapiro.

"I absolutely deny that I did anything in a suggestive manner to Janel, or anybody," Bell said during an interview last month with the Tribune-Review. "Have I been nice• Yeah, to all my staff. Most of what she said was a big nothing. I treat my whole staff like family. I have a pretty close relationship with all of them.

"It's hurtful, and I deny the allegations that anything was done inappropriately," Bell said.