Ex-Judge Coffey loses appeal of decision denying her $89K-a-year pension, $400,000 back payment

Apr. 21--A former New Hampshire Superior Court judge has lost her appeal of a decision determining she is not entitled to a judicial pension of $89,604 a year, more than $400,000 in back-pension pay, and health insurance, because she "resigned from service prior to reaching retirement age."

The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that former Superior Court Judge Patricia Coffey, who left the bench at age 54, isn't entitled to a pension from the state retirement system because she retired from service seven years before filing for benefits.

The court ruled the New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan gives pensions to judges who retire with at least 15 years of service and are at least 60 years of age. The Court of Appeals found statutory language requires that judges must be in active service when they retire and seek benefits.

Coffey, 65, who now lives in California, filed a federal lawsuit in June 2019 against the New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan and its board of trustees after they turned down her bid for an $89,600-a-year pension.

Coffey asked that the pension be retroactive to October 2013, when she turned 60 years old, which would entitle her to $400,000 in post-employment compensation.

In a February 2015 decision against her, the board said state law requires someone remain on the bench until the date of retirement, said Scott Harris, a lawyer with the McLane law firm, representing the retirement authority.

Coffey resigned in April 2008 after more than 16 years as a Superior Court judge. At the time, the Supreme Court had suspended her for three years without pay for helping her husband -- former state Rep. John Coffey, R-Rye -- create a trust to shield money while he was disbarred for financially exploiting a Rye woman.

The Judicial Conduct Committee reprimanded Coffey about six months after she stepped down for drawing a salary from a document retrieval company while she was sitting as a judge on the bench.

The JCC found that Coffey, acting as a judge and taking a salary from the New York firm, violated three canons of ethical conduct for jurists.

She had also come under investigation in 2006 following allegations that she fell asleep while court was in session. She was ordered to submit to random monitoring of her courtroom.

Coffey had also served two years each as a district court judge and part-time municipal judge before her promotion to the Superior Court, where she presided mainly in Rockingham County.

In an order issued Aug. 14, 2019, U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro wrote that judges are required under the law to remain on the bench until satisfying an age and years-of-service requirement.

"Because Coffey resigned from service prior to reaching retirement age, she is not entitled to retire under the plan," Barbadoro wrote.

In its decision, the Court of Appeals wrote Coffey's argument that she should receive her pension is "without merit."

"Coffey argues that the district court 'overreached' by interpreting the word 'retire in this section using the statutory definition of 'retirement,'" writes Judge Sandra Lea Lynch. "We disagree."

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