COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – First is was a sexual harrassment lawsuit. Then came a recall effort. Now Branch County Prosecutor Ralph Kimble is being limited in his contact with other employees at the Branch County Courthouse.
Branch County’s three judges and magistrate have signed an order which limits the movements of Kimble in the Branch County Courthouse. Judges Bill O’Grady, Kirk Kashian, Brent Weigle and David Coyle all signed the order which was served to Kimble. The order stated it “will allow all parties to focus on the work that each department needs to have done and to avoid unnecessary contact between employees within the courthouse.”
The order informed Kimble “although we certainly appreciate the recent refrainment on your part from making contact with court personnel, we believe that this order will benefit everyone affected by providing further direction of what is expected.”
The order restricts and bars Kimble from the second floor judicial corridor which houses the Circuit and District Courts, as well as Probate Court, except for the courtrooms and judicial chambers upon request of the court. Kimble is also barred from the Friend of the Court and is to have no contact with a female employee unless there is male employee or Sheriff’s deputy present.
Not only has a recall effort been launched against him, but Kimble is also facing a sexual harassment lawsuit that named him and Branch County as defendants. It was filed in October 2017 by former county employee Evon Staley. The lawsuit claims acts were also directed by Kimble towards other women in the Prosecutors Office, 3-A District Court, 15th Judicial Circuit Court, Branch County Probate Court and other county agencies and departments.
Kimble has denied the accusations. Staley filed her suit in Branch County Circuit Court a few days after she and three other persons were charged in relation to an alleged marijuana grow operation on her Grass Lake Road property. She was fired in November 2016 following an investigation by the Southwest Michigan Enforcement Team.
Kimble has also been investigated over his conduct by the State Attorney General’s Office and Michigan State Police.
The order signed by the judges was first reported by WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo, which obtained the document through the Freedom of Information Act.
