The county announced in a news release on Friday, August 12, that Joseph J. Farah, the judge of the Genesee County Circuit Court, who is accused of sexual harassment, has been relieved of his on-site duties three months before his retirement in November.
Judge Joseph J. Farah was accused of harassment in the second half of 2021 by a former intern for the judge.
Farah said this week that he would be stepping down starting on November 9 as a result of an investigation by Michigan State University that revealed evidence of the harassment claims.
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Judge in Michigan retires after finding that an intern at a law school had been sexually harassed: Following an investigation that revealed he had.. newsoneplace.com/846292207/mich…, Judge Joseph J. Farah stated he would be retiring in November.
However, in a statement issued on Friday by acting chief judge Elizabeth A. Kelly, he has since been relieved of in-person duties at the courthouse in preparation for his retirement.
Following discussion with the State Court Administrative Office, a decision was taken.
Kelly also issued a formal statement, which read:
He will remotely finish any outstanding tasks that were put on hold between now and his retirement in November. The Court will keep working to provide judicial resources for any other cases that Judge Farah is currently hearing until a replacement is named.
Given that Farah was an intern while attending Michigan State University, the university has already severed connections with her.
At the university’s school of law, Farah served as an adjunct professor.
In an email to Farah dated Wednesday, August 10 from MSU Interim Assistant Provost Ann E. Austin, the judge was informed that he would no longer be permitted to work at or volunteer with the university.
The press was able to access Austin’s email thanks to a FOIA request.
J. Farah Joseph, who? He did what, then?
Joseph J. Farah, a Flint native who spent his formative years there, earned his B.S. from Michigan State University in 1975 and his J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1979.
The Genesee County Circuit Court bench was filled by Joseph J. Farah in March 1998.
Farah had 18 years of private legal practise prior to her 1998 appointment to the circuit court. He also was a friend of the court official.
For the first seven years after being appointed a judge, he worked in the Family Division. Since 2005, he has been in head of the Civil-Criminal Division’s trials.
The investigation report from the Michigan State University Resolution Office, dated July 13, claims that it found evidence that Farah violated the university’s policies on Title IX and interpersonal violence.
kitser \skitser \s@kitser bot \s@FoxNews Read a succinct summary here
Grace Ketzner, a third-year law student at Michigan State University, filed a complaint against Judge Joseph J. Farah after she worked as an intern for him in 2021. She claimed that Farah would ask her to go on trips with him, have lunch with him, or
Farah had violated MSU’s anti-discrimination policy, the resolution officer also found.
The claims of harrassment and stalking, however, were not supported by evidence.
Farah is no longer allowed to work for the university, participate in volunteer work there, or speak with MSU School of Law students about internship opportunities.