Judge on Mississippi coast charged with ‘outrageous’ sexual harassment of Ocean Springs lawyer

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Chancery Judge Neil Harris sexually harassed a female lawyer and then “glared” and “belittled” her in his courtroom instead of agreeing to step down from the case she was handling, according to a lawsuit filed by the lawyer.

Ocean Springs attorney Jennifer Sekul Harris, who is not related to the judge, is suing Neil Harris in Jackson County District Court, claiming he intentionally and negligently inflicted emotional distress and defamation. She is seeking unspecified compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages, attorney fees and court costs.

Judge Harris, who was served with the lawsuit over the weekend, told the Sun Herald by phone on Monday morning: “I deny every single allegation.” He did not provide any further details about the lawsuit.

“Harris’ conduct was so outrageous and extreme that it exceeded all possible limits of decency,” the lawsuit states, “and must be considered abhorrent and utterly intolerable in a civilized society…”

Jennifer Harris states in court documents that she filed a sexual harassment complaint against Harris with the state Judicial Performance Commission in December 2022, shortly after Harris first harassed her. The complaint remains unresolved, she wrote in a recent affidavit.

Attorney Harris was in the Harrison County courtroom Monday morning and was unavailable to speak to the Sun Herald.

In her lawsuit, filed by Ocean Springs attorney David Krause, she said she was “shocked” when Harris first made “sexually suggestive” comments to her.

Allegations of sexual harassment uncovered

Harris was elected in November 2006 as chancery judge for the 16th District, which includes Jackson, George and Greene counties. Chancery judges handle equity disputes, family law cases, including divorce and custody disputes, guardianships, competency hearings, wills, challenges to the constitutionality of state laws and other matters.

Attorney Harris said she had her first unpleasant encounter with the judge, which she described in the lawsuit, in December 2022. She had waited two hours at the Jackson County Courthouse in Pascagoula for another judge to return from George County Court so she could sign a temporary custody order.

Eventually she was told that Judge Harris was available and was sent to the break room, which didn’t surprise her since he was known to hold confidential meetings in his office or the break room. A bailiff stood in the doorway of the small break room while Harris, in his black robe, stood at the table with his back to the wall.

He asked for her documents. And then, according to the lawyer, the judge asked her: “Have you been on dates with married men?”

“Excuse me?” she asked, thinking she had misheard.

She says he then asked her again, in the same serious tone, if she had dated married men. Her lawsuit says the judge was married and knew she was married. He even knew her husband, a police officer. She told the judge her husband was the only married man she had dated in 30 years.

Judge Harris then noted that “the Orange Beach residence is less than 150 miles away. Michelle would not suspect anything if Miss Harris and I went there for the weekend.”

“Michelle” is not identified, but Harris is married to Vecie Michele Harris.

Attorney Harris said she quickly picked up her papers, left the break room and returned to her clients in the courtroom, where she is still in shock.

“As she left the courthouse and walked to her vehicle,” her lawsuit states, “she was physically shaking, nauseous, and so mentally distressed that she could not think of anything other than what had happened.”

When the clerk of the George County judge’s court contacted her, attorney Harris began to cry and told the clerk what had happened, her lawsuit states.

Harassment against judges continues, the lawsuit says

She attempted to resolve the situation without filing a civil suit, knowing that Judge Harris has a “temperamental” nature and “had threatened many attorneys with jail time for the slightest (perceived) offense…”, her lawsuit states.

Krause and attorney Harris are jointly representing business clients in a case before Harris. They filed a motion on March 14 asking him to recuse himself from the case. He has not yet made a decision on the motion, saying he has “abstained from hearing cases” in which Jennifer Harris is an attorney since August.

Her last encounter with Harris was in March 2023, which she also described in the lawsuit. She was in the Chancellor’s office when Harris came in. “When Chancellor saw Harris, she immediately became anxious and ill,” her lawsuit states.

Unable to help but “cause her additional embarrassment and emotional pain,” her lawsuit says, he approached her to ask if she had heard any “good gossip” recently. By “good gossip,” he meant, “you know, married lawyers cheating.”

She left the courthouse abruptly and was physically ill when she reached her vehicle, her lawsuit says.

When she recently confronted Harris about the motion to recuse himself from the business dispute, Harris glared at her, her lawsuit says. He refused to acknowledge the motion to dismiss, instead treating her with contempt and “humiliating” her in court.

She was so distressed, nauseous and anxious that she developed a rash, the lawsuit says.