interlocutory judicial review. We further conclude that
it would violate the separation of powers doctrine for
the commission to exercise jurisdiction over a complaint
alleging discrimination and retaliation in the Judicial
Branch’s regulation of the legal profession. To hold oth-
erwise would interfere impermissibly with the orderly
conduct of the essential functions of the Judicial Branch.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The relevant facts and procedural history are undis-
puted. In 2018, the Superior Court suspended the Con-
necticut law license of the complainant for one year,
imposing a variety of conditions on her reinstatement
as an attorney. In December, 2019, the complainant
filed an application for reinstatement to the Connecticut
bar, which then Chief Court Administrator Patrick L.
Carroll III referred to the Hartford County Standing
Committee on Recommendations for Admission to the
Bar (standing committee), which then was chaired by
Attorney Gary A. Friedle. In March, 2020, the Rules
Committee of the Superior Court suspended a variety of
deadlines set forth in the rules of practice because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, which included those for processing
attorney reinstatement applications. In December, 2020,
the complainant filed a complaint with the commission,
alleging that the standing committee’s delay in schedul-
ing a hearing on her application for reinstatement was
the product of racial discrimination against her. She also
subsequently filed a federal civil action against Judge
Carroll, raising similar allegations of discrimination.
In February, 2021, Attorney Friedle filed a motion
for advice with the Superior Court, asking (1) whether
“the filings of the [commission] complaint and/or the
federal lawsuit constitute a stay,” and (2) “[i]f the filings
do not constitute a stay and should the [commission]
complaint and/or the federal lawsuit still be pending at
the time a hearing has been scheduled on the [complain-
ant’s] application [for reinstatement to the bar], how
should the [standing] committee consider the pending
matters in its deliberations for reinstatement of the
State of Connecticut, Judicial Branch v. Commission on Human Rights &
Opportunities, Office of Public Hearings