A Denver judge has ruled that a lawyer who is hearing impaired and was removed from a jury pool due to his disability can sue the Denver County Court for discrimination.
Denver District Court Judge Mark Bailey determined Saturday that a fellow judge didn’t follow the Americans with Disabilities Act or state rules for selecting jurors when she removed Spencer Kontnik from a jury pool, opening up the Denver County Court to a lawsuit.
The key facts of the case are not in dispute. Kontnik, an employment and disability law attorney with the firm Kontnik Cohen in Denver, uses an interpreter to hear in courtrooms. He reported for jury duty one day in July 2021, met the court-appointed interpreter and was told to wait outside the courtroom while the judge met with lawyers.
Smith agreed to exclude Kontnik from the jury. He then threatened to sue the Denver District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender but reached settlements with them that included training on the ADA for their staff and donations to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association, among other nonprofit organizations.
With the facts undisputed, the hearing centered on whether Kontnik can, under law, sue the court. Judges are immune from lawsuits that accuse them of making bad decisions. Williams, with the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, argued he was suing a court, not a judge.
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