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| Judge Kathy Hoogstra |
The complaint was originally filed in March with the state's Judicial Tenure Commission by Muskegon County Deputy Clerk Marcia Wilkes. The commission dismissed the claims as being without merit.
Hoogstra declined to comment on the dismissal. She is a judge in the 14th Circuit Court's Family Court division which hears cases on domestic relations, neglect and abuse and delinquency matters. She was appointed in 2013 and retained the seat in the 2014 election.
Wilkes claimed that Hoogstra verbally abused her in private and within earshot of her co-workers in response to a request from the clerk's office about a missing circuit court file.
"I was frightened and (Hoogstra) was wildly mad and kept going on like a crazy person," Wilkes wrote.
Neither Wilkes nor Hoogstra would comment on the complaint. However, in an email to the clerk's office provided to MLive, Hoogstra claimed Wilkes' request for the document was "unprofessional and offensive."
The Judicial Tenure Commission is an independent state agency responsible for investigating complaints of misconduct among state judges. The 11-person panel made up of lawyers and judges recommends discipline for judges to the Michigan Supreme Court, which rules on whether misconduct had occurred.
A representative from the commission declined to disclose when the body decided Hoogstra's case, saying it was considered internal information.
Sandra Vanderhyde, the 14th Circuit Court administrator, said she was notified about the decision on Aug. 7. The same day, Vanderhyde sent a memo to the county's judges, court staff and the Muskegon County Board of Commissioners announcing the dismissal.
"Judge Hoogstra has always maintained the highest professional standards of conduct in the workplace and wanted her colleagues to know the outcome of this case," Vandrhyde wrote in the memo that was read at the Aug. 7 county board meeting. "She is also very proud of the 14th Circuit Court's administrative staff and their colleagues in the 60th District Court and thankful for their hard work serving the people of Muskegon County."
The incident follows several workplace harassment allegations made against current and former Circuit Court employees. The county recently completed several workplace harassment seminars and training sessions for all county and court employees following the complaints of sexual harassment.
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Verbal abuse complaint against Muskegon County judge dismissed
Judges can be so hard to deal with. Such ego and arrogance on most of them.
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