Unwelcome Advances Draw 30-Day Suspension

The Minnesota Supreme Court approved a stipulated 30-day suspension of an attorney for "unwelcome, physical contact" with another attorney at a legal skills conference

The Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility has filed a petition for disciplinary action alleging that respondent Charles S. Gerlach committed professional misconduct warranting public discipline. The petition alleges that while serving as a faculty member at a legal skills conference, respondent made unwelcome, physical contact with a lawyer who was attending the conference. The gender-based harassment occurred on two separate occasions at a social event related to the conference. See Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.4(g).

Respondent and the Director have entered into a stipulation for discipline. In it, respondent waives his procedural rights under Rule 14, Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility (RLPR), waives his right to answer, and unconditionally admits the allegations of the petition. The parties jointly recommend that the appropriate discipline is a 30-day suspension.

We have independently reviewed the file and approve the jointly recommended disposition.

The link to a story in The Minnesota Lawyer (subscription required) seems to indicate that he "has been suspended from the practice of law after slapping a woman's rear end two times at a social gathering..."

(Mike Frisch)