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Last week, Michigan judge Joseph J. Farah tendered his letter of resignation, effective November 9. This was following accusations that Farah sexually harassed a former intern, Grace Ketzner.
Ketzner interned for the judge while a law student at Michigan State Law. Farah allegedly made inappropriate comments to Ketzner including that he “wouldn’t be able to control himself in a dark room” if he were alone with her.
Deadline Detroit reports the behavior was ongoing:
In an account last November to MSU’s Office of Institutional Equity, Ketzner said Farah made sexual comments from May through September 2021 about past interns, repeatedly texted travel invitations, asked her to visit him privately, read her a “very sexually suggestive” sentence he wrote, made multiple comments about buying her drinks, and then ignored her at work and complained about her performance as retaliation for rebuffs, Michigan Radio reports.
After she quit the intership early, Ketzner told a hearing officer seven weeks ago, the judge continued to contact her and offered tickets to a MSU-Michigan football game last October.
Farah was also an adjunct law professor at MSU. Ketzner brought a Title IX complaint against the judge and Michigan State’s Resolution Office found Farah violated the school’s guidelines against sexual harassment and academic guidelines for harassment on the basis of sex. Farah has since left his position at MSU.
Ketzner has also reported the behavior to the state Judicial Tenure Commission.
Ketzner’s vocal about her experience on social media, where she thanked other women who have come forward:
Ketzner’s social post indicates she’s not the only person recounting alleged misbehavior by the judge. “I especially want to thank the other women who were willing to come forward after I called asking if they had experienced something similar,” she writes. “Without their bravery, I know the JTC [judicial tenure commission] outcome and Farah’s resignation would not have been possible.”
And she’s been pretty blunt in her assessment:
“Fuck Joseph Farah for his decades of abusing his power. I, as well as many many other women, will sleep well tonight knowing no other woman will experience harassment in his chambers.”
Read Farah’s resignation letter below.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).
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